Speaker A [00:00:02]:
Welcome to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast, where changing your eating habits is the key to losing weight, improving bowel health, and feeling your best. I’m your host, Fatima Fakouri. I’m a registered dietitian who’s married to a quadriplegic and specializes in nutrition for paralysis. Get ready to be inspired, educated and motivated so you can take control of your health using the power of food. Let’s get started. This is the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast.
Speaker A [00:00:33]:
Today I have group coaching member Heather. Welcome, Heather, to the podcast.
Speaker B [00:00:39]:
Thanks so much, Fatima.
Speaker A [00:00:40]:
It’s great to be here and I am really excited to have you share your experience because I have said this before on our group coaching calls, you were one of those people where I was a little bit like, I hope this works for her, because it was pretty serious. The constipation, the bowel issues, the bloating. It was a lot. So, Heather, why don’t you introduce yourself a little bit, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker B [00:01:10]:
Sure. So I live with a type of muscular dystrophy, so I’m using a power wheelchair for, I’d say, 95% of the time. So pretty sedentary. And I’ve been using the wheelchair probably going on four years now. And before that, I was a little bit. I was more active. And I must say, I didn’t notice or realize if I did have bowel issues, it wasn’t affecting me like it became. It started to when I found you.
Speaker B [00:01:48]:
So I think the best way to describe what I was going through when I came of bloatedness, just feeling like I had a stomach that was not necessarily, you know, because I put on a bunch of weight, but it was just really sticking out and it was just always uncomfortable. And two years ago, I’d actually gone to see the doctor about my bowels because, to be quite honest, I hadn’t pooped in a month. And that was starting to worry. A month, and that was starting to worry me. I was preparing for a holiday. I was going on an overseas vacation, and I thought, I got to get this sorted out. Now I don’t want to get on an airplane and still be carrying all what is inside of me. So I took a trip to my local gp and I was quite surprised because she really wasn’t worried about it.
Speaker B [00:02:45]:
She kind of. We spoke a little bit about it and she said, well, it’s probably because you are more sedentary and there were. There are products out there that you can go and get it at Your local drugstore. And, you know, some people live on them for the rest of their lives. That, you know, you. There’s a. I think it was something I just dissolved in water and drank that. And.
Speaker B [00:03:10]:
And so I started doing that. I thought, well, I’m overreacting. This isn’t, you know, this is something people in wheelchairs go through and they just learn to live with it. And after a couple of weeks, yes, the product started working, and I went off on my overseas trip, had a good time, and then when I came back, I’d stopped using the product because the. My buzz had started working again. But then, you know, a couple of weeks after that, they. They stopped again. And I didn’t feel.
Speaker B [00:03:41]:
I was looking at my diet, and I didn’t feel like I was eating just processed food. So I’m going to say there was definitely room for improvement, but I didn’t feel I was one who was eating a lot of takeout, eating a lot of white flour, sugar. And I couldn’t. I just couldn’t understand why my. My body couldn’t. Wasn’t working like it should. And I’d give myself stomach massages. So I went back to the doctor, and she said, well, you know, she recommended what she had told.
Speaker B [00:04:14]:
Told me to take before, and she said, look, it’s okay if you. If you keep taking that stuff for the rest of your life. And I just thought, there’s got to be a better way. You know, I’m living with muscular dystrophy. There’s nothing I can do about that, but surely there’s something I can do about my bowels. And around this time, that’s when I discovered your posts on social media, and you spoke a lot about fiber and a lot about protein, and it made so much sense to me. So it’s been a bit of a journey since then, since finding you and then, of course, signing up for the program.
Speaker A [00:04:51]:
I’m just. A month. You did not poop for a month.
Speaker B [00:04:55]:
A month.
Speaker A [00:04:55]:
How did that feel? I mean, I’m still stuck on that. Heather has gone through her entire whole thing, and I’m still stuck on. You didn’t poop for 30 days. And your doctor, who is a general practitioner, we should say, is not a, you know, specialist in neurogenic bowel, but is a medical doctor. So it just kind of strikes me as surprising that anybody, let alone a doctor, would think it’s okay that you didn’t poop for a month.
Speaker B [00:05:29]:
She didn’t seem worried. You know, there was no referral. There Was no.
Speaker A [00:05:37]:
Nothing.
Speaker B [00:05:37]:
No.
Speaker A [00:05:38]:
So the first, the first advice that you received was take this over the counter, whatever it was. Maybe it was.
Speaker B [00:05:46]:
That’s it.
Speaker A [00:05:47]:
Was it like powdered fiber? Was it a laxative?
Speaker B [00:05:49]:
It was, it was powdered fiber. Was powdered fiber. And it was something that was easy to travel with as well, you know, those little pockets. So.
Speaker A [00:05:59]:
And it worked.
Speaker B [00:06:00]:
You know, it took a, it took about two weeks, but when it started working. Yes, it worked. And even then, Fatima, I can say I wasn’t having bowel movements every day. I probably moved to maybe three times a week. So yes, big improvement. Big improvement.
Speaker A [00:06:19]:
Three times a week is much better than not going for a month. But I mean, how did that feel, not going to the bathroom for a month? I can’t imagine that.
Speaker B [00:06:29]:
Well, it explained why I was feeling so, so bloated and had quite a hard stomach, I must say. There was no internal pain. I can’t say that I was in any pain. So I wasn’t thinking about it all the time. But now and again I’d catch myself now, think another week’s gone by, you know, I’m moving to that, to that month mark. Surely this is not good for my body.
Speaker A [00:06:56]:
Right?
Speaker B [00:06:57]:
Yeah. So it was worrying.
Speaker A [00:06:59]:
It was, yeah, it is worrying. And then you. So I got you. So you went on your vacation, you came back, you stopped taking the powdered, the over the counter things to help you go, and then you had the same problem again.
Speaker B [00:07:14]:
Exactly. Another couple of weeks and I was back to, to where I was when I first went to see my gp.
Speaker A [00:07:20]:
I’m just shocked that after such a long time you didn’t end up with an impaction because that can really result in like a hospitalization. Yes, it can, it can. A bowel impaction. And so you got things moving a bit. But now let’s fast forward because you were in the program starting in June and then is now October. So you are, you have resigned on and I think we’re in like month four now. So tell us now about your bowels. How is it going?
Speaker B [00:07:51]:
Okay.
Speaker A [00:07:52]:
How often are you going? How you feeling?
Speaker B [00:07:54]:
Well, I can tell you it has been like night and day. So getting onto your program and learning about goal like daily fiber and protein goals and I could clearly see that I was not meeting my protein goals, definitely not meeting my fiber goals. And you suggested using a tracking app.
Speaker A [00:08:19]:
Yes. Everybody in the program, in the group coaching program tracks their meals in an app so that you can see how many grams of fiber are you eating, how many grams of protein how many grams of carbs? And I know that you and I even just last week were discussing how to get the carbs down now that your protein and fiber is where it needs to be. Now the next step is getting to the weight loss. So the big outcomes of the program are weight loss and bowel health. And I always try to address the bowel health first because this might be surprising. I think it’s easier to adjust your bowels than it is to learn all about macros and calories and how to lose weight. Now, I will also say this. Most people want to work on both.
Speaker A [00:09:07]:
So it’s like, yes, overwhelming to be doing two things at once. So my, you know, framework, the first part is to let’s get your bowels in order so you can feel better. And then you’re already halfway to your. Your macros, right, because you’ve already got your at least your protein down and you’re starting to work on your carbs, and then we’ll talk about calories. And so how often are you able to go?
Speaker B [00:09:33]:
Now, in a very good week, I can go up to seven out of seven days on a very, let’s call it a not so good week. The worst week I’ve had since joining the program, and as we said, we enter fourth month now, has been three days a week. So on average, let’s say six days a week. On average, six days. Okay, I’ll take it.
Speaker A [00:09:59]:
Because three is not good. Three is not good.
Speaker B [00:10:02]:
Three is not good.
Speaker A [00:10:03]:
Five is better. You know, six is even better. Seven is gold standard. Human beings should poop once a day. And I just like going back to what your doctor kind of said, you know, I’m not concerned that you haven’t pooped in a month. That concerns me. That’s concerning to me. It’s.
Speaker A [00:10:23]:
It just makes me wonder, what are they teaching people about people with disabilities?
Speaker B [00:10:28]:
Well, I think there’s a lack of knowledge there, Fatima. I think that’s where there is a gap. They know a lot of things, a lot of good things, a lot of useful things. But I do find, I think, people with disabilities, they say that we are the largest minority group in the world. So of course there’s going to be gaps in knowledge and each person situation is different. So there used to be a time where my bowels weren’t an issue for me, and now I’m living in a time where they became an issue. And I needed nutrition advice that was not just move more, eat less. I needed to know about protein.
Speaker A [00:11:10]:
I needed to know about Fiber.
Speaker B [00:11:13]:
And I needed to know how. Carbs are not evil.
Speaker A [00:11:17]:
You can still eat them. And I think that a lot of people who have paralysis and have wanted to lose weight have done these diets that are really restrictive and low in carbs.
Speaker B [00:11:32]:
Oh, yes.
Speaker A [00:11:32]:
And it’s impossible to get enough fiber if you don’t eat carbs. There’s no carbs in meat or dairy. There’s no. There’s not a ton of fiber in any. I mean, there’s no fiber in anything unless it’s a carb. That’s it. You know, other than avocados, which are high in fat, you know, good fat. But other than that, you have to eat plants, you have to eat fruits, you have to eat whole grains.
Speaker A [00:12:01]:
You have to.
Speaker B [00:12:02]:
And that is what I’m realizing. Yes. And I think it. Look, I think it comes out of a place of desperation.
Speaker A [00:12:08]:
Yes.
Speaker B [00:12:09]:
Where you starting to feel uncomfortable and a little bit panicked that in terms of weight. In terms of weight. Sorry. Yes, in terms of weight. And also bowels. If your bowels are not working and you’ve tried different things and you follow different advice from the medical professionals that are in your life. So, yes, trying these extreme weight loss and diets is tempting because you want a solution to your problem and you want it quickly. But I think the game changer has just been tracking.
Speaker B [00:12:46]:
I mean, when I first signed up with you, we had agreed that I should look at not. Not that calories are the be all in the end, all of this, but that I should start aiming for 1500 calories a day. And once I started tracking, I realized actually, on average, I was eating 1800 calories a day. And those calories did not include the fiber that I should be eating. And I know for me, for my body, it does like some bulk. So if I include, you know, have a good steak now and again, I don’t eat a red meat every night, but I do find at least once a month to have a good steak and sometimes a really good piece of whole wheat bread at lunchtime or a whole wheat tortilla, you know, is just. It’s just the fiber that, that my body needs to get the bowels active and moving. And I’ve also discovered through our zoom sessions, through sharing of recipes, the different types of fruit that are good fiber.
Speaker B [00:13:55]:
I mean, I’m one of those who. I can eat the same thing, you know, lunch, dinner, supper, for weeks at a time. And then you taught me about the idea of just making colorful plates and changing variety. Having a variety.
Speaker A [00:14:11]:
Yes. Because if you don’t eat a variety of foods, you’re not going to be getting a variety of nutrients. Right. And those fibers that you’re eating, those are prebiotics. So those feed the good bacteria in your gut. So when it comes to a gut healthy diet. Right. Eating a variety, even if you’re easygoing.
Speaker A [00:14:29]:
Listen, my husband is the same way. He can eat the same thing for a few days. But it’s important to get that variety because every food has something different to offer. Right. So you mentioned I don’t eat steak every night, and I agree with that. But there’s probably no richer source of iron. Right. So it’s important, unless you have some really specific reason for avoiding a food that you eat a variety of different foods.
Speaker A [00:14:56]:
Right. And when it comes to your gut, you need all those different prebiotic fibers to feed the probiotics, the good bacteria. And so, you know, I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that the weight loss diets that are out there don’t take into account the special kind of considerations that you need to keep in mind if you have neurogenic bowel.
Speaker B [00:15:28]:
Yes, yes.
Speaker A [00:15:29]:
Right. So keto with the super high fat and protein as opposed to. Actually, you know what? Keto is not super high in protein, it’s super high in fat. But it’s so, so, so lacking in carbs that you can very easily become malnourished. Right. Because you’re not eating any fruits. Where are you getting your vitamins and minerals from? The same vitamin minerals that are in fruits don’t exist in vegetables in the same amounts and all that. So it’s a mess.
Speaker B [00:16:00]:
And on that topic, I was told to try juicing for a couple of weeks, so bought the juicing machine and every day would mix up with the vegetables and the fruits and, and there was no fiber, which is what I learned after the fact. Because, you know, all the skin on the. That’s what I’ve, I’ve learned through the program as well. It’s, it’s. The fiber is in the skin of the fruit. So that’s what you want to eat.
Speaker A [00:16:29]:
Yeah, absolutely. And when you. So I’d be curious, who gave you the advice on juicing?
Speaker B [00:16:35]:
It was just a health, not a health professional, but in the health field.
Speaker A [00:16:41]:
I see. So, and I will say this, juicing is not bad. I’m sure you get a lot of benefits from drinking juice. I mean, I’ll tell you this, we don’t do juicing in my house. You know, we just don’t. We Just don’t do it, because we’d rather just eat the fruit. And I think what people don’t know is that the difference between a smoothie and the juice is huge. So we might do smoothies sometimes, because you just put the fruit, the vegetables, whatever it is.
Speaker B [00:17:10]:
I love smoothies.
Speaker A [00:17:12]:
You love a smoothie, and it’s full of fiber. You can add nuts to it. You can add protein powder. You can add collagen. You can make a really balanced, wonderful smoothie. You cannot do that with juice, because juice takes all of the water content. Right. And some of.
Speaker A [00:17:32]:
Some of the nutrients, but not all of them. The best way to get the benefit of a fruit or a vegetable is to eat it. Not to squeeze all the. All the, you know, the water content out of it and then just drink it. But doesn’t it feel, Heather, like, special and magical to do juicing?
Speaker B [00:17:52]:
It does.
Speaker A [00:17:53]:
They’re colorful, beautiful.
Speaker B [00:17:56]:
Have you ever done a beaten orange juice? It’s beautiful.
Speaker A [00:18:01]:
That’s like, when I drink hibiscus tea. It just makes me feel so fancy because it’s, like, fuchsia, you know, pink. So I think, you know, if you love to drink celery juice, go ahead, but I don’t really enjoy that. I’d rather eat celery and dip it in some healthy dressing, you know, and get the full benefit of it. And I will say, also, juicing is kind of wasteful, right? Cause you’re throwing away all that good stuff Now. I do know some people take the remains and they bake them into brownie. It’s like, I don’t have time for that. Just let me eat the carrot.
Speaker A [00:18:41]:
I just want to eat the carrots with a little ranch dressing. Let me move on with my life, you know?
Speaker B [00:18:45]:
Yes. And I think your mouth enjoys the chewing part. I enjoy chewing those carrots and oranges. Just biting into an orange is. Yeah, it’s.
Speaker A [00:18:58]:
It’s fun, the whole experience, you know, as opposed to just drinking something. And so the worst thing, though, about it is that it didn’t help you. If it helped you, I’d be like, okay. But it didn’t do anything because for. For your bowels to move, you need to eat fiber.
Speaker B [00:19:16]:
I need fiber, and I need milk. And it’s not sustainable. Juicing is not something that I could do for months on end.
Speaker A [00:19:23]:
So when you did juicing, were you also eating food for one meal?
Speaker B [00:19:29]:
I was. So I think it was breakfast. I think it was juicing for lunch and for dinner. And we’re talking about a big kind of beer, glass of juice at night. So going to say just at one stage, I was doing a lot of carrot juice.
Speaker A [00:19:46]:
And I can already say where this is going.
Speaker B [00:19:49]:
Yep. My skin tone turned off.
Speaker A [00:19:52]:
Yes. Too much beta carotene. Right.
Speaker B [00:19:55]:
There you go.
Speaker A [00:19:56]:
And so too much of a good thing is never good. Right. And also, I will say this. Hindsight is 20 20. But, Heather, when you do something like juicing, you don’t get enough protein because there’s no protein in juice and you’re eating one meal a day. So unless you’re eating like 70 grams of protein in that one meal, which I really doubted, I don’t think you do juicing all day and then eat a gigantic hanger steak. You know, I mean, maybe you did, I don’t know.
Speaker B [00:20:28]:
But three or three.
Speaker A [00:20:30]:
Exactly. So it’s just. It’s not appropriate for people with paralysis who already. I feel like maintaining muscle mass is a source of concern. Right?
Speaker B [00:20:45]:
Yes.
Speaker A [00:20:45]:
Like, if you don’t eat enough protein, you’re not going to maintain your muscle mass. So something like juicing or even, you know, the other diets that are out there, like intermittent fasting.
Speaker B [00:20:57]:
Yes.
Speaker A [00:20:58]:
I know most people who do intermittent fasting who join the program when they track their typical day. I mean, you can only imagine the carbs are high, the fat is usually slightly too high, and the protein is low because you’re hungry, and so you’re just eating whatever and it’s. Imagine the fiber. One meal a day. Or, you know, some people who do intermittent fasting, I think they eat more than one meal. Like, they’ll eat two meals, for example, but there’s no focus on macros, and so there’s no focus on nutrients. The eye is on the clock of, like, oh, it’s 12 I can eat, or, like, oh, it’s six, I have to stop eating whatever it is. And so it’s.
Speaker A [00:21:47]:
And it’s not good for bowels, especially if you try to poop in the morning.
Speaker B [00:21:52]:
Yeah, right.
Speaker A [00:21:53]:
Because most people skip the breakfast to skip the breakfast.
Speaker B [00:21:57]:
And I find to meet my fiber and protein goals for the day, I need those three meals and I need a snack in the afternoon. And look, even with that now and again, I’ll come up short, but then I’ll know what I’m short on. And I’ve got the tools. I know how to increase the intake then. So instead of having a. A muffin for a snack, I’ll grab a piece of turkey from the deli that I’ve got, and that’ll increase my protein for the day. And my bowels will thank me the day after.
Speaker A [00:22:30]:
Yes, exactly. So I talk about what I have affectionately coined the poop trifecta. And the poop trifecta, I know you’re familiar, is fiber, fluid and stress. And, you know, the fiber we talked about a lot. The fluid I want to talk about.
Speaker B [00:22:49]:
So water.
Speaker A [00:22:51]:
Drinking enough water isn’t funny. Yeah, but isn’t it funny how hard it is for people to get to that starting goal? The starting goal is 64 ounces per day, which is 2 liters. I find that people are not drinking.
Speaker B [00:23:07]:
No.
Speaker A [00:23:08]:
That amount. And if you’re in a larger body, you’re going to need more than 60.
Speaker B [00:23:11]:
Yeah. And I certainly wasn’t drinking that. When I do. When I didn’t have a bowel movement for a month, I certainly wasn’t drinking enough water. I was drinking water what I thought was enough. But, you know, now that I’ve. I’m more educated about the nutrients. Well, the fiber needs that water, too, because it absorbs a lot of it.
Speaker B [00:23:35]:
So when I started your program, I was probably drinking half of what I should have been.
Speaker A [00:23:41]:
Okay.
Speaker B [00:23:42]:
And now, four months later, I built. It took me a time, it takes to build up to it, but I got myself one of those water flowers that has the numbers, that has the measurements. And I knew, okay, I’ve got to fill this up, this bottle up two and a half times a day. And now it is part of my routine and I just do it. And I know I can feel in my bowels I’m getting enough water. And it certainly has helped. So even once my bowels started working over the counter supplement with that soluble fiber supplement, I still found I was constipated. So even though.
Speaker A [00:24:27]:
You were taking in a lot of fiber and you weren’t pooping productively like you were going. Things were starting to go. But I think you had mentioned that it was hard.
Speaker B [00:24:39]:
Yes.
Speaker A [00:24:40]:
And it was small.
Speaker B [00:24:42]:
Small, you know, like a pooping. Like a rabbit.
Speaker A [00:24:45]:
Rabbit, yes, yes. Rabbit poop. So they’re. They’re just kind of lumps of coal. Right. As opposed to. You want to have like a normal.
Speaker B [00:24:56]:
Just a normal. I don’t want to struggle.
Speaker A [00:24:59]:
No, exactly.
Speaker B [00:25:00]:
Just. And have that urgent, that feel, that urge that you need to go to the bathroom now. And that’s what. Now that I’m even further down the line, I think that’s the point I’m getting to. Now that I’m more familiar with the amount of protein and fiber that my body needs per day and what I can get it from. I’m starting to feel more in control because let’s say I have a day where the bowels haven’t moved. I can look at, okay, how much water did I have, how much fat? What did I have for. And I can make a change the next day, and I know the body will respond.
Speaker B [00:25:39]:
So now it’s becoming more my normal, which is how it should be, which.
Speaker A [00:25:45]:
Is what I want for everyone. Right. I don’t want it to feel like, oh, I’m on this wacky diet. I have to do xyz. I want it to be like, oh, when I drink enough, I can poop easily. When I eat enough fiber, I can poop easily. So hence, I’m going to eat and drink accordingly so that I can poop easily. As opposed to, I’m on this crazy diet and I have to follow it or else it’s like.
Speaker A [00:26:11]:
Or else what? Like you’re not seeing any results anyway. So when you eat right for neurogenic bowel and you start to feel better eating these foods because I said so or because it’s the right thing to do, you’re doing it because it makes you feel better.
Speaker B [00:26:28]:
Yes.
Speaker A [00:26:28]:
Right. So it’s. There’s a reason behind it. There’s a. There’s a. There’s a payoff.
Speaker B [00:26:34]:
Is that. There’s a big payoff. There’s a big. And of course, you full now. So you’re not left at the end of the day on a calorie deficit because you haven’t eaten enough. You are satisfied, and you are full. So for me, after I used to, after lunch and after dinners, because I wasn’t eating enough protein, there was always that, how can I end this meal off with something that just satisfies me? You know? And it was usually something sweet.
Speaker A [00:27:04]:
Sweet or so eating enough. Yes, Eating enough protein is a great way to curb these carb cravings, you know. And what’s interesting is, so, Heather, you started off at 1500. That’s not the number you’re at any more. Because first we wanted to make sure that you had adequate protein and fiber. And once your bowels were good, then we dropped you down a few hundred calories because you mentioned, you know, you don’t want to be in a calorie deficit. You do want to be in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. But first things first is most of the people in the program have no idea how many calories are in the foods that they’re eating.
Speaker A [00:27:44]:
So if we give you your End goal, calorie number, it’s not going to be a good transition. So you said, like, for example, you started off tracking a typical day or typical week and realized it was more like 18. So if I said, hey, Heather, now you have to eat 1200, it would just be like, oh, my God, she’s crazy. She’s starving me. What’s going on? So we knocked it down to 15, which I think for you is maintenance. For you. Yes. So anyone listening here? These numbers are just for Heather.
Speaker A [00:28:17]:
These are not for you. I don’t know your height, weight, you know, your level of injury, all of those things. So for Heather, 1500 was maintenance. 1800, which is what you were doing before, was causing slow and steady weight gain over years. And now definitely you are, you are no longer at 1500. When we were dealing with the bowel stuff and trying to get. Because it takes time, it takes weeks, it takes months to get enough fiber and fluid. This affects your grocery habits, your takeout habits, your eating habits, you know, on a daily basis.
Speaker A [00:28:55]:
And it’s not that easy, you know, to make that all happen at the same time.
Speaker B [00:28:59]:
No. And you want to be prepared. You talk about meal preparation and what I’ve appreciated is it’s not that you have to have every single meal for that stuck away in your fridge because that’s very intimidating. But it’s when you go to open the fridge, you got the right foods in there. So.
Speaker A [00:29:20]:
So anything you grab is going to.
Speaker B [00:29:23]:
Be a good choice because you’ve already pre screened it. You happy with protein and fiber and. Yes. You’re just making, you know, it’s. For me, it was something as simple as swapping out the yogurts I was buying. Instead of getting one type of yogurt, I changed to Greek yogurt. And that’s just better for me because it’s got more protein and it fills me up. It makes for a great breakfast.
Speaker B [00:29:48]:
And I can add to it to get my fiber. I can add my raspberries, which I found to be very good. And you can switch. There’s countless combinations.
Speaker A [00:29:57]:
You can switch so many. Right? But you, but your basics are there.
Speaker B [00:30:00]:
Basics are there. Yes. Yes.
Speaker A [00:30:03]:
Heather, I’m going to go help my husband put his shoes on.
Speaker B [00:30:06]:
Okay.
Speaker A [00:30:09]:
What is the most valuable thing that you would like to share with the listeners?
Speaker B [00:30:14]:
Get yourself educated about fiber and protein. I didn’t realize that my bowel habits or my bowel movement was in my control. So just by learning about macronutrients and how to get more of a balance during your day. And it’s not difficult. It’s not rocket science. There are apps out there that can help you with the calculations. And Fatima has certainly put resources out there on all his social media platforms just to get you started with this. And it really is, I think I want to say that the food we have available to us has got all the nutrients in it that our bodies need to work properly.
Speaker B [00:31:03]:
I’m not going to go down the, you know, organic and this and that.
Speaker A [00:31:08]:
I don’t even really do that. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B [00:31:10]:
Just in your average supermarket, making good choices about what you put in your grocery cart can actually help you improve the quality of your life at the end of the day. So if you are having trouble with your bowels, I would put weight loss to the side and I would go back to the basics. I would look at your protein and your fiber intake, your water intake, and that’s where I would start from.
Speaker A [00:31:35]:
One thing at a time, One thing at a time. And it’s funny, Heather, because when I started paralysis nutrition, I was like, well, I’m going to do weight loss. I’m a dietitian and I’m going to do weight loss for people with paralysis. Because diet is so important. You can’t just go exercise. And, you know, actually even people who are not wheelchair users cannot compensate, you know, for what they eat. But they can more, you know, than my community. And so I was like, oh, I’m going to do weight loss.
Speaker A [00:32:02]:
And then everybody wanted to talk about poop. So here we are. So here we are. And yes, I think that is great advice. One thing at a time. Get your bowels right so that you can make room for these changes. And the bowel health is actually, it’s an easier problem to solve, you know, with education. Weight loss is really complicated, which I think is why you need to be in kind of a group coaching or a one on one coaching environment.
Speaker A [00:32:33]:
But with the bowel health, you know, I’ve been doing webinars and things like that and it’s like just getting the education out there right. And people can follow it. Yes, support and accountability is important, but it’s a lot easier once you at least know the right things to do. Then it’s like, go forth, get these things, eat these things.
Speaker B [00:32:53]:
I couldn’t agree more. Absolutely. And just to let your listeners know that since my bowel has been working, the bloatedness has gone down. I don’t feel like my stomach is sticking, you know, in front of me. My whole abdomen area is shrunk has shrunk. So. And that is when I know my bowels are working because it’s just, you know, it feels normal and it feels good and life just is better.
Speaker A [00:33:23]:
Yes. Like simply said, life is better when your bowels are moving. You know, I’m going to hear that 30 days of no. 1 month of no pooping. I’m going to hear that in my nightmares forever. It’s just, you know, how can that be okay? It’s not okay. And Heather, I thank you so much for taking your time. I know you are busy, busy lady.
Speaker A [00:33:42]:
So I appreciate you taking your time and sharing all of this knowledge that you have gained and also your experience because I’m really hoping that we can spread this message.
Speaker B [00:33:54]:
Oh, yes.
Speaker A [00:33:55]:
It’s not hopeless.
Speaker B [00:33:57]:
It’s not hopeless.
Speaker A [00:33:58]:
And improve your bowels. You don’t need to be stuck in the bathroom or bloated or uncomfortable or on laxatives. Your whole life doesn’t have to.
Speaker B [00:34:07]:
No. And there are people out there that you can connect with and talk to about it. Especially for wheelchair users. We are. We are community and we’re there to support one another. So it’s not hopeless. And there’s a solution.
Speaker A [00:34:22]:
Yes. Yes. Nutrition is the solution. Thank you so much, Heather. I appreciate you.
Speaker B [00:34:26]:
Thank you, Fatima. It was wonderful speaking with you.
Speaker A [00:34:30]:
Awesome. Thank you so much. And until next time, that’s our episode for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new. Remember, if you want to lose weight with paralysis, improve your bowel health and feel your best you can. It’s possible. You just have to change your eating habits.
Speaker A [00:34:47]:
If you need inspiration on how to get started, check out the paralysis Nutrition Cookbook 101 recipes to help you lose weight and improve bowel health. The cookbook comes with a bonus 30 day meal plan and is the perfect way to start eating healthier. You can find it online@paralysisnutrition.com cookbook. I’ll talk to you again soon.
