for more information on using a CGM, see: continuous glucose monitoring to improve your metabolic health.
hi! i'm excited you're here. metabolic health is a passion of mine, and comes from my own lived experience and healing journey. i used to be overweight, depressed, and most certainly could not do a strict pull-up. crossfit and yoga saved my life, but movement can only get you so far - i now know, firsthand, that nutrition is the foundation. what you eat quite literally creates your tissue (see: nutrition = tissue: food as structure.), and you can't out-exercise a bad diet! not to mention, thinking along that mentality usually leads to disordered eating patterns - something else i know a thing or two about, because i have recovered from anorexia and bulimia.
the food you eat dictates how much serotonin your gut can make, the likelihood that you will develop infections like COVID-19, your body's capacity to recover from strenuous workouts or long days at work, and the strength of your bones. your body needs consistent input of high-quality ingredients to function!
as a family physician in training, i am convinced that good nutritional habits are the single most important thing i can encourage patients to develop, because over a lifetime, this is either medicine or poison people are exposed to day in and day out. this is a big battle, because beyond the issue of our food system being polluted with ultra-processed foods that are devoid of nutrients and also loaded with added toxic ingredients, our food culture is poisoned with the interests of industries who profit off of our sickness, from big agriculture to big pharma. i would like to give my patients the tools to take their health into their own hands, and this starts with awareness and autonomy.
i am working on developing a short-term intervention to use on a small scale with my own patients. the goal here is NOT to scale this up to some sort of corporate, mechanical program. i believe that relationship, reciprocity, and slowness are key to the healing process. this means that being efficient, productive, and profitable are NOT the goals (those priorities in our society and sick-care system come from colonization and capitalism).
i care more about the journey than the end-point metrics (though, that data can be helpful and motivating too!). this intervention is not meant to be about making rules or acquiring knowledge, but about exploring and understanding YOUR body, and giving you the explicit opportunity to play with changing your own habits and patterns so that you can function better.
the program structure (loosely!)
- four weeks in length:
WEEK 1: awareness - logging food without making changes; purchase CGM and food scale
WEEK 2: awareness + shift - logging food, with focus on protein and carb targets
WEEK 3: use CGM + food logging, continue patterns of week 2
WEEK 4: use CGM + food logging, play with timing and content of intake and movement
- once a week meetings in person, likely to be held at CrossFit Postal on Sundays or a weeknight evening
- an online community with one weekly reading assignment (~15 min read) and one weekly question for reflection and sharing, plus opportunities for further group discussion and connection
FAQ
do i have to dramatically change how i eat?
NO! this intervention is about awareness. every week's "intervention" is always optional, with room for you to wiggle and incorporate your own preferred foods and eating patterns. the emphasis here is on awareness and autonomy, not rules or restriction.
i have diabetes.
you can still join if you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, as long as you do NOT use insulin to manage your diabetes.
what if i can't buy a CGM?
right now, i want to work with a small group of folks who are able to purchase a CGM. please make sure this is something you can commit to before joining!
ready to join me? sign up here.
