INSTRUCTIONS
Let’s get started!
We get how overwhelming it can be to start something new; changing your diet and integrating this into an already busy life affected by digestive issues can be stressful!
So, in order to make it as simple and stress free as possible, you only need to complete 2 tasks:
1: Track 5-7 days of your usual diet and symptoms in Cronometer.
This will give your Dietitian the information they need to know which elimination diet you need, a baseline on your symptoms, an insight into your current nutrition choices and patterns and the ability to help you evolve your diet rather than completely redesign it.
2: Begin the process of change by working on mindset hacks that will help you to shift how you see the world through digestive symptom coloured glasses.
By the end of this module you will know:
– How to track your diet and symptoms in Cronometer.
– How to use meditation to help calm your nervous system.
– How to approach your mindset to be successful.
Tap on the “Go To Next Module” link at the bottom of the page to move to the next module.
If you have any questions please ask in the FB group or email hello@dietvsdisease.org.
1. Goals and Intentions
When you signed up for your program you had a goal: improve your gut health, learn your triggers, improve your quality of life, perhaps change your body weight in the process.
We offer a whole module (Module 7) devoted to mindset coaching to help you reach your goals and to untangle the unhelpful thought patterns that end up sabotaging your progress or prevent you from being your own cheerleader.
You can also check out live mindset calls in the Facebook group events tab by clicking here. And you can watch replays in the group any time, just click here.
To get you on track with your goals, please watch this goals and intentions mindset presentation with Jay Hayes.
If you found this video helpful, please try the hypnotherapy session below, then move on to the next lesson.
Hypnotherapy session:
2. Meditation and gut directed therapy apps
Meditation is evidence based for digestive symptoms! If you have found the mindset work offered so far to be useful then you can do more. Not only do Module 7 and Module 8 offer far more beneficial work, but you can also use the apps recommended below.
Try out the free meditation app call ‘Insight Timer‘. It features many free meditations that can be really useful to help you increase nervous system calm, which in turn can help reduce your symptoms.
Click here to download for iPhone/iPad
Click here to download for Android
If you find this useful then we can also provide you with a free 6 week licence for NERVA, a dedicated gut directed hypnotherapy app which is evidence based for IBS.
Please speak to your Dietitian if you think you would benefit from NERVA.
3. Tracking With Cronometer (Set Up Tutorial)
Tracking your usual food and symptoms for 5-7 days first up will help us to identify where we need to start with your diet to bring symptom relief over the coming weeks.
STEP 1: Download the Cronometer app from your app store:
Click this link to download Cronometer for iPhone/iPad
Click this link to download Cronometer for Android
STEP 2: Create your account using the email address that you used when signing up for the program.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY FOR THE APP – You will get a notification once you open the app:
‘Diet vs Disease team
is requesting to monitor your Cronometer account’
Hit ACCEPT and you will be upgraded to PRO.
STEP 3: Review the lessons below on how to use the Cronometer app.
NOTE: If you have any concerns about tracking your food in an app please speak to your Dietitian (for instance if you feel it will create disordered eating. We can turn calories off in the app and we can also use other methods to track if needed).
Tracking Basics: the 3 functions you need in Cronometer
In this lesson, Dietitian Erin O’Neill shows you how to add foods, add a biometric (stool) and add notes.
How to use Cronometer: Tips and Tricks
In this video Rachel Manthey RD runs through how to use Cronometer for logging.
How to add a recipe in Cronometer
This video runs through how to create recipes in Cronometer.
How to use the website version of Cronometer
If you prefer to use the website version of Cronometer for any reason, this video goes over how to log using it instead of the cell/smartphone app.
4. If You Have a Weight / Body Composition Goal
This video walks you through how to take before and after photos and how to take measurements if you have a weight or body composition goal.
5. Loom
We use software called Loom to record short videos of Cronometer data for clients to review.
If you receive a Loom video you can play it on any internet browser without needing to install the Loom app, see the video below.
6. Baseline Symptoms
If you have medically diagnosed IBS or you self-diagnose/identify as having IBS please fill out the IBS survey (this is also linked in your welcome information that was emailed to you).
If you signed up with diverticula disease (no IBS) or IBD, you do not need to fill out this survey.
This will give us baseline data on your symptoms so we know where you are starting from. We will administer the same questionnaire half way through your program and at the end of the 16 weeks for comparison.
7. Your IBS Recovery Kit
This lesson is all about how to tackle your symptoms head on and not be a victim of them.
How do IBS symptoms make you feel? Powerless, annoyed, lost, isolated, worried or anxious, angry?
What do you do when you feel symptoms coming on? Do they make you want to hide away, take a day off work, avoid life, exercise and socialising?
It’s likely that you resonate with some or all of the above.
One of the biggest things we see is as practitioners are people who feel they are a victim of their digestive issues.
Now is the time to change that.
Elimination diets are designed to bring symptom relief over time, but you will still experience digestive issues during the elimination phase for whatever reason and even in your personalized diet beyond, at some point. Sometimes there is a clear reason why; unintentional sabotage, bad luck, wrong food, wrong dose, stress…. And sometimes there is no clear reason why.
None of this matters at the time but what does matter is how you tackle the symptoms. This is why we recommend you create: Your IBS First Aid Kit!
This is a kit to keep with you at all times in case of symptoms. It might be a bumbag/fanny pack, a toiletries bag or something similar. In the bag you want to add:
– wet wipes
– spare undies
– plastic zip-lock bag
– gas-x (or similar)
– Iberogast/Atrantil
– A reusable heat pack
– A reminder to practice slow, deep breathing, tummy massage, NERVA or Insight Timer
– A personal mantra that helps you avoid slipping toward oblivion (catastrophising), e.g. “this too shall pass, just keep breathing“.
– Pen/paper for notes (if needed)
This kit is to be taken everywhere! It’s your F U to your symptoms should they happen. Your way of being prepared for the worst while hoping for the best and being your best self if (when) digestive issues strike.
Remember that digestive issues are not a punishment, they are not your fault (most of the time!) but they are a learning experience.
They are temporary (even though it may not feel like it at the time) and when they strike you have 2 options: be a victim of them or tackle them head on as best as possible. Choose to tackle them head on.
MODULE SUMMARY
At the end of this module you have learned:
– How to track your diet and symptoms in Cronometer
– How to use meditation to help calm your nervous system
– Developed an IBS recovery kit
If you are not clear on any of the above, please review the lessons again and if you are still unsure, please reach out to the FB group, a Q&A or contact your Dietitian for further assistance.
This is all you need to do in week 1, well done! If you have energy to spare, go for a walk, implement some self-care or watch a Q&A replay in the Facebook group.
Click the link below to go to the next module.