My name is Jill Place, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Clinical Nutritionist. I’m not only a nutrition professional for more than 30 years … I’ve studied and practiced Alternative/Root Cause/Functional Medicine (which looks at WHY you’re not feeling well instead of just treating a symptom) way before it was trendy.
Not only that, I’ve been healing my own gut for even longer … since I was in college. And realized that the answer was not from a pill but instead from avoiding foods like sugar, gluten, and dairy to reduce inflammation and instead eating healing ones like fruit and veggies as well as fermented and Gluten Free choices.
As a private practice dietitian and lifestyle coach, I work intensely with clients to make often-difficult healthy changes easy. I put all my expertise onto this group Challenge to make changes as easy as I can just for you.
I took the two most important elements of healthy lifestyle change … stress reduction and healing foods … and put them together in an easily doable program with lots of support. I put these ideas into 6 (including the initial DAY 0 where I explain the whole program) days of videos and handouts to make these changes easy for you.
The goal is to start you off making the right lifestyle GUT-FOR-YOU changes. And allowing you to create your own brave path to health that will carry you well-functioning into your 70’s … 80’s … even 90’s (I’m 77 myself).
I give you four easy food changes a day … 1 fermented food … 2 fruits … 3 veggies … and 1 gluten free food. It’s a way to try to get basic gut-healing choices into your life. Remember that this is a CHALLENGE … it’s only for a few days … and YOU get to pick what you want to eat within those categories (you even get fermented and Gluten Free handouts and other suggestions to make choices easier). But the whole idea is to TRY things … oh … and no juice allowed … only the whole fruit (cut-up is OK) and veggie (raw or cooked).
Oh … and guess what … YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING! A lot of the time, just being exposed to new ideas can eventually kickstart you to change. It took one of my clients years to do so … but when he finally did … he lost 80 pounds, ran a marathon, and has stayed slim his whole life.
THAT’S MY GOAL. So just hanging with us may work for you right now. Because you may gain skills that finally motivate you to act.
Stress is a HUGE problem today. Where once our bodies pumped up adrenaline for fleeing from the sabre-tooth tiger and then quickly returned to a state of calm and relaxation, now they’re “pumped” all the time.
I explain all that in my article, 4 Ways Stress Causes Leaky Gut. But … suffice to say … constant stress shuts down the digestive and immune systems. Friendly and unfriendly “gut bugs” can then multiply and mutate. Imbalances in your microbiome result, which can lead to many problems.
Also, 95% of serotonin (our “feel good” neurotransmitter that modulates all aspects of well-being) is made in your gut; stress interrupts that. So what are we to do?
Mindfulness is the answer. An ancient practice that fits beautifully into modern sensibilities … three breaths can actually send you into rest, relax, and digest mode.
Practiced on a regular basis, it can make relaxation (and gut-healing) automatic. And these 6 daily short, sequential snippets of mindfulness will start you down the path toward a GOOD GUT. As well as having a profound effect on other aspects of your life.
We meet on for a Friday Facebook LIVE at 7a PST for “Day 0” in our private Facebook group for the orientation where I lay out the whole program. Then I give you the weekend to get ready … plan (with the meal planner provided) buy food, gather recipes, read the material I give you in the private group and on a separate exclusive page, listen to your first mindfulness breathing audio, etc.
We start bright and early Monday morning for the Challenge for real with a Facebook LIVE (if the time [7am PST] is too early or late for you, there’s always the replay). Then follow your plan (If you don’t have a plan, the world has a plan for you!).
Bottom line … you find ways to eat ONE fermented food TWO fruits THREE veggies every day for 5 days and include ONE Gluten Free food (bread, pasta, sweets and your choice) after the first day. I give you tons of suggestions in the handouts and the HEAL YOUR GUT menu … but it’s your ultimate choice what to eat.
Also, I give you one short mindfulness audio to listen to every day … or more than once if you want … some articles to read if you want … and some time to plan. This all should take no more than an hour a day including planning.
And … if you want … watch the daily video (suggested but not totally necessary). Also, participate in the group if you’d like to read what others are saying and ask questions.
To be honest, GUT-FOR-YOU lifestyle changes take a while to work. That’s not what this Challenge is about.
Most online programs like this are long, often difficult, and expensive. Actually … I just saw two … one for 14 days and the other for 28 days … that are $600 and $500 respectively.
Applause to those who finish too … statistics say that ONLY 15% do … primarily because they’re too lengthy and have no community or facilitator support.
So … instead of doing that I’m CHALLENGING you to do gut-healing things for just five days. I actually SEE you every day … and you’ll get the support of the group too
Also, many of these don’t give detailed instructions about how to make these changes. They just give you a diet plan. As well as “what to eat” and “what to avoid”. Lots of people aren’t creative enough when it comes to food so that they can actually take the next step.
Also, most of these programs give you tons of science … which you don’t need. What you DO is some easy ways to make changes that fit into your own lifestyle.
That’s what this is. Think of it as a good start. And a way for you to experiment with and be creative about new ideas that may make your life better. With the hope that you’ll continue to explore them. And perhaps try new ones.
So this is a beginning … that won’t take tons of time … and provides support for you in several ways to make small healthy choices a journey.
It’s the only way to make those chosen choices permanent.
NOOOO! Far from it. We’re still working to make this Challenge the best it can be. So … for a few rounds … IT’LL ONLY BE $47!
YES, that’s what I said! $47! When one of my Facebook group people found out, she said “WOW!” Love that!
Of course, I’d love it too if you’d give us a testimonial and participate in the group … but that’s totally optional. Yes is about YOU … not me!
Oh … and by the way … don’t forget to join my group … Dietitian Jill’s 5 Day GOOD GUT Challenge Public Forum … to stay update on GUT-FOR-YOU Doin’s. And … if not this … then!