THE MUST HAVE TOOL
TO EMPOWER YOUR
HEALTH
& WELLNESS
by Toni Crabtree
H
er face lit up when
she saw me, and
her first words, even before
hello, were “It was stress!” I’m
sure I looked confused, so she
repeated, triumphantly, “It
was stress! It wasn’t the food!
Remember our conversation?”
and leave altogether. She had
done some research online and
was worried that she might have
Crohn’s, or even Celiac, disease.
She had already talked to her
doctor and had gotten nowhere,
and she was worried that it might
be serious.
Then I remembered. A few
months ago at a party, Mary
approached me with a personal
problem. She was embarrassed
and uncomfortable talking about
it but the conversation had turned
to recent research on the human
microbiome and digestive issues,
and she had something on her
mind. After asking if she could
speak with me privately (it was a
party after all), she told me what
was going on.
As a coach, I would never
diagnose someone’s symptoms. I
doubt any self-respecting doctor
would do so at a party. But I asked
Mary a few questions. I asked if
she had noticed any patterns.
Were these episodes triggered
by a specific food or restaurants?
Or were there certain people or
situations that seemed especially
difficult? That got her thinking,
but she couldn’t be certain about
any of it.
I’ve heard it before. Sometimes, in
the middle of a meal, usually in a
restaurant or in a business setting,
she has the urgent, immediate
need to leave the table and head
for the bathroom. Often, she
would have to interrupt the event
So I made one suggestion, she
immediately start the most
effective, empowering practice
I know: keeping a food journal.
Wait, did you just groan? “Not a
food journal - anything but that!”
Stay with me now, this is good.
92 | Eydis Magazine
Of course I advised Mary to
record everything she ate, and
that she be very specific. Rather
than “sandwich,” she would write
down the components of that
sandwich: did she have lettuce,
mustard, roast beef, cheese, on
Wonder Bread or Pepperidge
Farm? If she had that sandwich
at a restaurant, she would record
the name of the restaurant. She
would do the same for every meal
and snack each day.
anxious, stressed, worried, calm,
happy, peaceful?
But we didn’t stop there. I also
advised her to record how many
hours of sleep she got each day,
the number of bowel movements,
what she drank and how much,
and whether she exercised or
not. The final piece was to note
how she was feeling: was she
Finally, and this is important, I
urged her to make absolutely
no judgements about what she
was doing or what she was
recording. There is no right or
wrong when you are collecting
data in a journal, you are just
recording it.
I’ll be honest, I had no idea
whether Mary would follow
through. Most people don’t.
But she did, and now she
knows beyond any doubt that
the one thing that brings on
these episodes is stress. It’s
not food at all. Knowing that,
now she can focus on learning
tools and strategies to manage
and reduce her stress. As she
eydismedia.com 93