June 10, 2025 • 27 mins
Feeling tired, bloated, or foggy despite "eating healthy"? You're not alone. This eye-opening conversation, with functional medicine health coach Rebecca Glick, reveals how hidden food sensitivities might be sabotaging your wellbeing—and how an elimination diet could be the key to uncovering them.
Our host shares her transformative experience: "I was eating what I thought were foods that were good for you... when I started to eliminate things, I could not believe how I was living and feeling and that I assumed that was normal." Like many of us, she had normalized symptoms that were actually signs her body was struggling with certain foods. Simply removing one processed food item created an immediate, dramatic improvement in her energy and digestive comfort.
Rebecca explains that elimination diets provide a structured, short-term approach to identifying food triggers. By removing common inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, and sugar for 3-4 weeks, then methodically reintroducing them while monitoring your body's responses, you create a personalized map of your food sensitivities. The beauty of this approach? It's accessible to everyone, requiring no special equipment or medical supervision—just awareness and commitment.
Ready to try an elimination diet? Proper preparation is key. Rebecca recommends gradual pantry adjustments, meal planning, and acknowledging the emotional aspects of changing your relationship with food, even temporarily. The awareness you gain extends far beyond the elimination period, creating lasting tools for understanding your body's needs and optimizing your health.
Find out more about Rebecca & her offerings in the MZC Practitioner Collective & connect with Rebecca on Instagram @nefeshliving
Check out the other episodes in the Miniseries -
EP. 58: The Hidden Toxins Impacting Our Energy + Health: A Conversation with Rebecca Glick
EP. 71: The Truth About Sleep & How to Improve It Holistically w/Rebecca Glick
Thanks for listening to The ModernZen Collective Podcast.
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💫 Looking for deeper guidance on your path? Explore our vetted, curated Collective of holistic practitioners—perfect if you're ready to deepen your practice or fast-track your transformation with expert support.
🌿 Follow us on Instagram @modernzenco & personally at @lizzysutton.co & @nikki.sucevic
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hi, I'm Lizzie and I'm Nikki.
Have you ever felt that yourlife was missing purpose, joy or
deep connection?
Welcome to the Modern ZenCollective podcast, where we
embrace holistic living for ajoyful, purpose-driven life In
this podcast we'll exploreholistic practices,
consciousness expansion andspiritual alignment.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We will dive into personal development practices
that connect mind, body, spiritand share secrets that ancient
cultures have known forcenturies.
Together, we aim to guide,educate and connect individuals
eager to transform their lives.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Join us weekly on the Modern Zen Collective podcast
and elevate your mind, body andspirit.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
And now on to to another episode of the Modern
Zen Collective podcast.
I am Nikki and I am here againwith our wonderful guest,
Rebecca, who's been on this showa few times before.
Rebecca is a certifiedfunctional medicine health coach
and she's also a seasonedexecutive coach, so she pivoted
to wellness and right now she'sworking with midlife moms and
(01:31):
women wanting to renew theirenergy and jumpstart all of that
.
So today we are talking aboutthe benefits of an elimination
diet, what it means, how it canhelp us and everything that goes
along with that.
So thanks, Rebecca, for beinghere again, Thank you for having
me.
Yeah, so this is a subjectthat's really, really important
(01:54):
to me.
It really was a big part of myhealth journey.
When I started to really lookat you know, why was I so
fatigued?
Why was I tired?
Why was I bloated?
Why was I getting headaches?
All of these things you knowthe basic things that were going
on, because on paper, I washealthy, I was doing Pilates and
yoga, I was running, I wasdrinking a lot of water, I was
eating what I thought were foodsthat were good for you, and
(02:18):
when I started to have theelimination diet and start to
eliminate things, I could notbelieve how I was living and
feeling and that I assumed thatwas normal.
It was like this cloud, thisveil that was over me and that
just came from one thing Ieliminated, which I remember it
(02:40):
was Belvita crackers, like thebiscuits To me.
I was a director at a bigcompany, I was working in HR, I
needed my sustained energy.
I wanted to have my coffee, mybiscuits and be able to power
through the day.
And when that was the firstthing I eliminated, I could not
(03:01):
believe how different my stomachfelt, how different my energy
felt, everything.
So that was a big part of myhealing journey five years ago.
So now, talking to you, when wefirst started talking about
this, it was really energizingto me because it's something
that anyone can do.
You can really do that at homeand start to see what is
(03:22):
impacting your health.
So I'm really excited to chatwith you about this.
How did you start?
You know, obviously, with yourjourney in terms of I know you
teach others this and you workwith them but your own journey
for elimination diet.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Sure, yeah, Happy to share.
And I would say you aredefinitely, you know, not alone
in that feeling of, oh, thisisn't normal to have all these
symptoms and headaches andbloating I think we all become
so accustomed to.
Well, it's just because Ididn't get a good night's sleep
or this or that.
And food really, really canplay a big role in how we feel
(03:58):
and we inadvertently may justcompletely dismiss that and not
realize it because we thinkthat's normal and there actually
is a better way to feel and tofeel good.
So I really appreciate yousharing that and that that was
your experience, because I thinkthat's a very, you know, common
and almost unfortunateexperience, that people think
that is the norm but that thereis a better way, which is, to me
(04:19):
, the exciting part.
So, you know, personally I haveexperienced, you know, gone
through elimination diets myselfand I think, you know, the
greatest thing that comes aboutis just this sense of awareness
and that's what I hear from myclients too in this, you know,
(04:39):
really kind of short term,because elimination diet is
typically, you know, maybe threeor four weeks, you know, and it
can be modified and customizedagain to sort of what someone is
focusing on healing, but it'snot a forever thing and it's a
short sort of snapshot that canreally have a huge impact on
long term healing, and so I viewit as potentially, you know, a
(05:02):
great way to sort of kickstart alonger term journey and get
some really great insights.
You know that just bring somuch awareness into how
different foods can be triggersand impact you, and so you know
that's what I think is reallyunique and fascinating.
And, as you said, like you know,anyone can really do something
(05:25):
for a short amount of time.
So years ago I experimented Idid, you know, if you've heard
of like Whole30, like I'veexperimented with that, and just
you know it was like 30 days.
I was like, okay, anyone can dosomething for that amount of
time.
And you know it takes effortand some planning and that's
really the role that I play withclients and I just finished
(05:48):
coaching someone a few weeks agoon an elimination diet and
there is, you know, the role ofa coach is sort of that setup
and that preparation Because,depending on where someone is
starting, it may be, you know,changing out some ingredients
that they're really used toconsuming on a regular basis.
It may be cooking a little bitmore than they're used to, and
(06:10):
just breaking down that into dothey like to cook, Do they know
how to cook, Do they have timeto cook, and kind of meeting
them where they are in terms ofwhat can, what's feasible, what
can kind of simply be, you know,worked into the routine with.
Again, that big flashing caveatof this is only a few weeks,
it's short term.
It's not, you know, meant to bekind of a forever thing, but it
(06:31):
can actually have foreverreally great benefits, and so,
yeah, I don't know if thatanswered your question.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
No, that was great.
Yeah, no, you had your ownjourney.
Now you help others, yeah, andyou know it doesn't have to be
forever.
But you know, for me I've neverate a Belvita cracker after
that.
Why would I need it, you know?
But that was part of my glutenelimination, just to start to
see how that would feel.
And also learning differenttypes of gluten.
(07:04):
There's high gluten, there's,you know, different types
organic, this, that, et cetera.
So I was learning what kindhighly processed, not processed,
et cetera that was working withmy body.
So it was almost.
I enjoyed it because it wasalmost like a science experiment
that I was figuring out whatworked and didn't work,
introducing things back in, likeyou said, it's not forever but
(07:25):
you get to see.
Does something make you feelweird, brain fog, bloated
headache, et cetera?
You probably won't want tobring that back in because when
you do, you'll start to seethose triggers and you'll
realize that it feels better tofeel healthy than to eat this
thing that possibly could begenerating this.
But we've also talked about ifyou know, if it's something you
want every now and then and youknow that's what's going to
(07:47):
happen, like for me, if I know Iwant a beautiful slice of New
York pizza and I know it's goingto make me feel bloated.
I'm still going to enjoy it.
But I know what happens becauseI had that elimination diet.
It was very clear of whathappens.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, that's exactly.
I mean, then you at least itgives you that information to
pinpoint.
You know what, like dairy orgluten or other, and those tend
to be, you know, often onelimination diet because they're
very inflammatory.
You know that those things youknow are going to impact you,
but that's.
You're in a social setting or acircumstance or a special
(08:22):
occasion or something where youare willing to make that
exception.
But at least you can pinpointexactly back and that's what I
think is so fascinating, as yousaid about.
So there's the elimination phaseof you know, however many days
or weeks that you're sort oftaking out certain foods and you
do realize that there areplenty.
You know people have said to mebut what do you eat?
I said everything, plenty,plenty of other things that you
(08:45):
can eat.
You know, if you just sort oflike take a step back and we've
got recipes and meal plans andall kinds of things, but there
really is plenty, plenty to eat.
This is not a caloricrestriction, this is just taking
out certain things that tend tobe food sensitivities,
inflammatory in your body, thatinflammatory are going to have
reactions of brain fog, offatigue, achiness, things that
(09:10):
you know we may or may not wantbloated.
But the cool part is thereintroduction, as you said, is
you go sort of step by step andyou introduce, you know you
start with, you know whateverfood you want to introduce first
or you're most curious about,and you have you know some
servings of that in sort of avery plain way.
(09:31):
You know nothing else mixed in,so like just an egg, not eggs
and cheese and all kinds ofother stuff, and you let your
body just react to it for a dayor two and just notice anything
and keep a log and it's justreally amazing that it really
will come like your body willtell you.
Your body will tell you andyou're like, oh wow, I haven't
(09:53):
had this sensation in you know21 days or you know four weeks,
you know, since I maybe tookthat food out and it's really
noticeable of what will comeback and some foods you may have
no reaction at all and that'sgreat too, because it's not
meant to take every single youknow thing out of your diet.
But it's just amazing what thebody can tell you when you do
(10:16):
this.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yes, and are there, you know ones, like you said,
gluten, dairy, you know.
Are there ones that are, ifsomeone just wanted to start
dabbling and try to decide.
Are there ones that are the bigones, that are typically the
ones that are inflammatory orthat are, you know, sometimes
(10:38):
troublesome, that you can easily, you know, start to eliminate?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, I mean I would definitely say dairy and gluten
like kind of top that list interms of more, you know,
inflammatory and potentially canbe rougher on your gut and your
microbiome.
So if that's something thatyou're working to heal, you know
, those can often be a place tostart or give yourself a head
(11:03):
start.
You know, everyone is a littledifferent.
You know I, you know, becameaware that I had a sensitivity
to eggs that I really neverwould have thought.
I ate a ton of eggs in my diet,good protein source.
But I was having headaches allthe time.
And I remember, you know, when Iwas told by my provider, like
(11:24):
try, let's try taking out eggs,I was like no A, I eat them so
much and it was like a big, itwas kind of an emotional piece
of like oh my God, what am Igoing to eat for breakfast?
How am I going to do this?
And and also just this, like Idon't believe you, I think eggs
are fine and lo and behold, Ireintroduced eggs and I mean I
(11:46):
was kind of in denial but I didlike immediately have this like
headache, like this groggy kindof feeling, and I was like, oh
no, but I think there wassomething else, and it was so
clear to her that it was theeggs.
So I was like, okay, I'll giveit a rest for now and I and I
still may try to reintroducethem again in the future.
(12:06):
But, um, it really, and it did.
Like I have, I have foundplenty of other things to eat
for breakfast and I make thisreally good like eggless, um, uh
, like beef hash with likevegetables and mushrooms and
sweet potatoes and ground beefand spices and you'd think eggs
(12:26):
would go with that.
But like I really don't miss itand I put some avocado and it
was a shift.
It was a big shift, you know,and that is part of this is, you
know, there's got to be awillingness, I think, to
experiment and make changes andknow that there are other ideas
and options out there, if you'resort of willing to explore them
(12:48):
and experiment.
But yeah, it's a journey forsure and it's a real, you know,
kind of learning exercise.
But yeah, dairy and gluten togo back to that can often be
places to start.
You know, typically on anelimination diet, it's, you know
, pretty focused on, you know,unprocessed foods, so you know
(13:12):
kind of fridge first, healthyproteins, you know lots of
fruits and vegetables andproduce Sugar is another one,
that is, you know lots of fruitsand vegetables and produce, um.
Sugar is another one that is,you know, not great for the
microbiome and, you know,regulating your blood sugar and
can often cause those kind ofhighs and lows of feeling, um,
(13:35):
you know, fatigue or kind ofgroggy and um.
But that can be a hard one,right, because there's forms of
sugar in everything, so that canbe a little more challenging.
But you know there's a lot ofways with sort of the right prep
and the right willingness toget at that too.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So going, you know, to it's almost like Whole30 when
you're doing the elimination,because you're going to more
whole foods and more, yeah,foods that are not over
processed, but then also, yeah,I know that gluten and dairy are
big ones For me, very similarlywith eggs and potatoes, like
(14:19):
those I found to be reallyinflammatory.
So that was something that wasan adjustment for me because,
much like you, I was making asweet potato scrambled egg
veggie bowl in the morning andobviously that was not serving
my body.
But on paper it looked like itwas serving my body because it
was colorful and it had allthese super foods in it, but it
(14:42):
wasn't for me.
So when you're starting anelimination diet we've talked
before on other episodes aboutall or nothing, all in, all out
Do you recommend let's starttomorrow, just eliminate gluten,
eliminate dairy, eliminateeverything, and just do these
(15:02):
whole foods and then start tointroduce one by one after you
have some clean cleansing?
Or is it a gradual thing whereyou do one and then maybe the
other later?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, I think I'll give you the it depends answer.
I mean it depends on theindividual and sort of maybe
what their symptoms are and whattheir goals are.
For me, I can speak personallywith the eggs.
I actually did do the eggs likea few weeks in advance because
I thought that was going to bereally hard for me and so I
(15:32):
wanted to just get used to likewhat the heck am I going to eat,
and because it was such astaple, and so I sort of did
that one in advance.
But I think it depends on wheresomeone is willing to start.
Overall, though, you want tohave those foods that are on you
know the list and there's aspecific list you know all
(15:52):
eliminated in a cumulative.
You know four weeks, so maybeyou start gluten earlier, but
it's sort of going to kick inonce you're doing everything so
that you really get the fullimpact for those triggers to
kind of quiet down in your body.
For certain triggers it takes afew weeks, you know, for your
body really to adjust, which iswhy it's that you know kind of
(16:13):
21 to 28 day mark and that youdo the reintroduction slow and
that is, you know, that adds tothe process, but it's sort of
like if you're going to botherto do and take out these foods,
you want to kind of reintroducethem very slowly the first time
I actually did.
Oh sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
No, I was going to say.
Then you can feel your body andhow it feels when you do the
more mindful introduction.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, yeah, and I think I mean even for
preparation too.
You know, sometimes you know,let's say, someone's going to
start an elimination diet inSeptember.
You know, maybe in Augustthey're just trying to, you know
, start to buy some differentthings in their pantry or in
their refrigerator that aregoing to, you know, start to
switch some of that out.
(16:59):
So it doesn't seem like okay.
I'm making one massive grocerystore trip.
You know the day before I'mstarting this and sort of do it
gradually to start to, you know,kind of realign their pantry a
little bit and and even justmaking like some meal planning.
There's.
There's tools that people canuse to just, I think, with, with
doing an elimination diet, um,uh, just using some kind of
(17:23):
planning system, whatever worksfor an individual.
There's different apps, youknow weekly planners and grocery
shop type stuff, writing itdown on your phone, writing out
on a calendar.
But I think the more you canfind a way that's simple for you
to just kind of plan things out, then it doesn't like as long
as you know what you're going tobe eating, then it doesn't
become oh gosh, well, what am Igoing to eat for dinner and I
(17:45):
can't eat this, and I can't eatthat, and really reversing like
where are all the things that Ican't eat?
There's plenty.
And just having a, you know, alittle bit of a plan in place
can really help ease kind of theprocess and the burden of maybe
cooking a little bitdifferently or not eating out as
much while you're doing theelimination diet, so You're not
(18:06):
eating out as much while you'redoing the elimination diet.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So, you know, helping someone just feel really like
set up and ready before justjumping in, I think is
definitely the way to go.
Yeah, it helps to release thatmental like you're saying that
mental of like workload oftrying to figure it all out one
by one.
Instead you know you have thatplan and you can release and not
worry about it, that you haveit all planned and it's good to
go.
And like you've said before.
You know it is 21 days, it's 28days.
(18:38):
You know we can do anything for30 days.
So let's figure out how we cando this to feel the best in our
body and have that slowintroduction too.
I noticed I eliminated.
You know, I did this five yearsago and I started to introduce
things back in and I broughtdairy back in and I brought
(18:58):
gluten back in, and I know whenI can almost tell.
I know that there are certainpastas.
If I make pasta at home forKyle and we'll have like a pasta
night or something, I willnotice that if I buy a
gluten-free pasta that's made ofsomething like rice or chickpea
, it bloats me more than if Iget like a nice Italian pasta
(19:22):
that has one ingredient, justthe wheat ingredient.
And that was part of my journeytoo, because as I'm eliminating
, I'm thinking, oh, I'll justuse this chickpea pasta, it
would be great.
Well then I realized chickpeais something that I didn't feel
great with and inflamed me.
So that was a part of thejourney too, of me introducing
the types of gluten andrealizing different
manufacturers do different waysof processing their pasta.
(19:45):
That's why I love if I do makepasta I try to buy Italian pasta
, because just the way that it'sproduced has different you know
regulations and how they'reputting everything together.
Yes, and I did a similar thingwith dairy and I realized you
know certain farms.
I felt different.
It was just the same kind ofthing.
So, like you're saying,everything is so specialized for
(20:05):
us and our body that we'll feeldifferent than I'll feel
different than you and viceversa, and we just have to trial
and error, which is also thatpatience as us, as humans, we
have to have that.
I don't like to say have we getto have this patience during
the process to really get toknow our body, which is such a
beautiful gift that we get that.
(20:25):
You know we have thisopportunity to do that and do a
diet like this.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Completely, I totally agree, and I think that's you
know.
What you're touching on is likethat awareness kicking in, that
, even like years or monthslater than you did you know,
kind of an official eliminationdiet, that you're still
listening to those cues, andthat's what's so cool that this
can teach you is it doesn't haveto be just in the 21 days of
(20:51):
like, oh, that didn't really sitright or that didn't make me
feel good, like what you know,kind of what's going on.
And I think that applies toanything food or anything in our
bodies Like the more we can bein tune and have that sense of
awareness of how things make usfeel coming in and out, it just
it's, it's super powerful.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, having that slow and steady mindful
connection and feeling your body, feeling the energy in it,
feeling how it is reacting andfeeling how it's healing and and
giving it space.
You know I like eliminationdiet I I really am so interested
in.
But I also am interested Ithink we've talked about this
before giving your body time todigest, not compounding
(21:33):
something on top of something ontop.
It's just very, very much how Iwas raised was to make sure you
eat and then eat again, andthen eat again and then eat
again.
Giving your time, your body,time to process.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
That's exactly what the reintroduction is Like you
have to wait 48 hours usually inbetween introducing a new food,
just to you know it's notsometimes, and that's what that
was.
Something that I didn't realizeeither is I was like, oh well,
it's an immediate reaction andsometimes that's really more of
a food allergy and that's notnecessarily what we're talking
about here.
We're talking about justsensitivities or triggers or
(22:05):
reactions, and that can be afull 24, 48 hours until your
body actually is like emittingthat symptom from something you
ate, you know, two days ago.
It's not necessarily an instantlike you're going to break out
in hot.
That's an allergy and sothere's a level of patience and
(22:26):
kind of commitment to see that.
But your body will tell you yes.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Your body.
If you're listening, your bodywill tell you.
We have to listen to our body.
Yeah, yeah, Well great.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Any final words on elimination, diet or anything
that we haven't touched on.
No, I think it's important torecognize too and I try to hold
this for individuals that I'mworking with about sometimes the
emotional connection that wehave, you know, just giving up
certain foods or feelingdeprived or changing our habits
Even if it's temporary, therestill can be just a lot.
(23:06):
It can be it feel like a reallybig ask, and so that's
something that I just reallyspend time with people checking
in on of sort of where are theyin terms of that readiness and
really connecting it back tolike the why of what are all the
things that this might do anduncover for them.
But not overlooking that,Because I do think, even in a
(23:28):
short time, you know it's achange, right, and so just not
overlooking that we're askingpeople to make some changes and
change some habits and give upthings that you know might feel
really needed, and so takingthat moment to just acknowledge
that and put that out there, Ithink is important that as well,
(24:07):
because, yeah, that's could bea big part of it.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Especially like I grew up in a food household, we
talked about food all the time.
Everything was food, likeeverything was what are we
having for lunch, dinner, allthis stuff.
So having that, as you know,that emotional connection and
listening to your body andgiving yourself that time and
knowing that you have thatemotional connection to the
process, to the routine, etcetera, is huge.
Thanks for bringing that up.
That's very important, great.
(24:31):
Well, this is another beautifulchat.
Love learning everything thatyou are sharing with your
clients and you're able to helpwomen.
So with us we have Rebecca onthe Modern Zen Collective.
You can see her there andconnect with her through her
website, instagram, throughthere.
But so that listeners know howthey can connect with you, how
can they find you?
(24:51):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So I'm on Instagram it's at Nefesh Living or you can
send me an email at Rebecca atNefeshLivingcom.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Amazing.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, Rebecca.
This has been wonderful, andthank you everyone for listening
through to the end andlistening all about this
elimination diet.
We'll have some links in theshow notes for you and ways that
you can connect with Rebeccaand work with her if you'd like
to do this on your own.
But thank you so much forlistening.
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Rebecca for being here.
Talk to you all soon, all majorplatforms, and take the first
steps towards elevating yourmind, body and spirit For all
resources mentioned in thisepisode and to connect with us
in our conscious community.
Check out the episode shownotes for all links and our
current offerings.
See y'all next time.
Hi, I'm Lizzie and I'm Nikki.
Have you ever felt that yourlife was missing purpose, joy or
deep connection?
Welcome to the Modern ZenCollective podcast, where we
embrace holistic living for ajoyful, purpose-driven life In
this podcast we'll exploreholistic practices,
consciousness expansion andspiritual alignment.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We will dive into personal development practices
that connect mind, body, spiritand share secrets that ancient
cultures have known forcenturies.
Together, we aim to guide,educate and connect individuals
eager to transform their lives.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Join us weekly on the Modern Zen Collective podcast
and elevate your mind, body andspirit.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
And now on to to another episode of the Modern
Zen Collective podcast.
I am Nikki and I am here againwith our wonderful guest,
Rebecca, who's been on this showa few times before.
Rebecca is a certifiedfunctional medicine health coach
and she's also a seasonedexecutive coach, so she pivoted
to wellness and right now she'sworking with midlife moms and
(01:31):
women wanting to renew theirenergy and jumpstart all of that
.
So today we are talking aboutthe benefits of an elimination
diet, what it means, how it canhelp us and everything that goes
along with that.
So thanks, Rebecca, for beinghere again, Thank you for having
me.
Yeah, so this is a subjectthat's really, really important
(01:54):
to me.
It really was a big part of myhealth journey.
When I started to really lookat you know, why was I so
fatigued?
Why was I tired?
Why was I bloated?
Why was I getting headaches?
All of these things you knowthe basic things that were going
on, because on paper, I washealthy, I was doing Pilates and
yoga, I was running, I wasdrinking a lot of water, I was
eating what I thought were foodsthat were good for you, and
(02:18):
when I started to have theelimination diet and start to
eliminate things, I could notbelieve how I was living and
feeling and that I assumed thatwas normal.
It was like this cloud, thisveil that was over me and that
just came from one thing Ieliminated, which I remember it
(02:40):
was Belvita crackers, like thebiscuits To me.
I was a director at a bigcompany, I was working in HR, I
needed my sustained energy.
I wanted to have my coffee, mybiscuits and be able to power
through the day.
And when that was the firstthing I eliminated, I could not
(03:01):
believe how different my stomachfelt, how different my energy
felt, everything.
So that was a big part of myhealing journey five years ago.
So now, talking to you, when wefirst started talking about
this, it was really energizingto me because it's something
that anyone can do.
You can really do that at homeand start to see what is
(03:22):
impacting your health.
So I'm really excited to chatwith you about this.
How did you start?
You know, obviously, with yourjourney in terms of I know you
teach others this and you workwith them but your own journey
for elimination diet.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Sure, yeah, Happy to share.
And I would say you aredefinitely, you know, not alone
in that feeling of, oh, thisisn't normal to have all these
symptoms and headaches andbloating I think we all become
so accustomed to.
Well, it's just because Ididn't get a good night's sleep
or this or that.
And food really, really canplay a big role in how we feel
(03:58):
and we inadvertently may justcompletely dismiss that and not
realize it because we thinkthat's normal and there actually
is a better way to feel and tofeel good.
So I really appreciate yousharing that and that that was
your experience, because I thinkthat's a very, you know, common
and almost unfortunateexperience, that people think
that is the norm but that thereis a better way, which is, to me
(04:19):
, the exciting part.
So, you know, personally I haveexperienced, you know, gone
through elimination diets myselfand I think, you know, the
greatest thing that comes aboutis just this sense of awareness
and that's what I hear from myclients too in this, you know,
(04:39):
really kind of short term,because elimination diet is
typically, you know, maybe threeor four weeks, you know, and it
can be modified and customizedagain to sort of what someone is
focusing on healing, but it'snot a forever thing and it's a
short sort of snapshot that canreally have a huge impact on
long term healing, and so I viewit as potentially, you know, a
(05:02):
great way to sort of kickstart alonger term journey and get
some really great insights.
You know that just bring somuch awareness into how
different foods can be triggersand impact you, and so you know
that's what I think is reallyunique and fascinating.
And, as you said, like you know,anyone can really do something
(05:25):
for a short amount of time.
So years ago I experimented Idid, you know, if you've heard
of like Whole30, like I'veexperimented with that, and just
you know it was like 30 days.
I was like, okay, anyone can dosomething for that amount of
time.
And you know it takes effortand some planning and that's
really the role that I play withclients and I just finished
(05:48):
coaching someone a few weeks agoon an elimination diet and
there is, you know, the role ofa coach is sort of that setup
and that preparation Because,depending on where someone is
starting, it may be, you know,changing out some ingredients
that they're really used toconsuming on a regular basis.
It may be cooking a little bitmore than they're used to, and
(06:10):
just breaking down that into dothey like to cook, Do they know
how to cook, Do they have timeto cook, and kind of meeting
them where they are in terms ofwhat can, what's feasible, what
can kind of simply be, you know,worked into the routine with.
Again, that big flashing caveatof this is only a few weeks,
it's short term.
It's not, you know, meant to bekind of a forever thing, but it
(06:31):
can actually have foreverreally great benefits, and so,
yeah, I don't know if thatanswered your question.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
No, that was great.
Yeah, no, you had your ownjourney.
Now you help others, yeah, andyou know it doesn't have to be
forever.
But you know, for me I've neverate a Belvita cracker after
that.
Why would I need it, you know?
But that was part of my glutenelimination, just to start to
see how that would feel.
And also learning differenttypes of gluten.
(07:04):
There's high gluten, there's,you know, different types
organic, this, that, et cetera.
So I was learning what kindhighly processed, not processed,
et cetera that was working withmy body.
So it was almost.
I enjoyed it because it wasalmost like a science experiment
that I was figuring out whatworked and didn't work,
introducing things back in, likeyou said, it's not forever but
(07:25):
you get to see.
Does something make you feelweird, brain fog, bloated
headache, et cetera?
You probably won't want tobring that back in because when
you do, you'll start to seethose triggers and you'll
realize that it feels better tofeel healthy than to eat this
thing that possibly could begenerating this.
But we've also talked about ifyou know, if it's something you
want every now and then and youknow that's what's going to
(07:47):
happen, like for me, if I know Iwant a beautiful slice of New
York pizza and I know it's goingto make me feel bloated.
I'm still going to enjoy it.
But I know what happens becauseI had that elimination diet.
It was very clear of whathappens.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, that's exactly.
I mean, then you at least itgives you that information to
pinpoint.
You know what, like dairy orgluten or other, and those tend
to be, you know, often onelimination diet because they're
very inflammatory.
You know that those things youknow are going to impact you,
but that's.
You're in a social setting or acircumstance or a special
(08:22):
occasion or something where youare willing to make that
exception.
But at least you can pinpointexactly back and that's what I
think is so fascinating, as yousaid about.
So there's the elimination phaseof you know, however many days
or weeks that you're sort oftaking out certain foods and you
do realize that there areplenty.
You know people have said to mebut what do you eat?
I said everything, plenty,plenty of other things that you
(08:45):
can eat.
You know, if you just sort oflike take a step back and we've
got recipes and meal plans andall kinds of things, but there
really is plenty, plenty to eat.
This is not a caloricrestriction, this is just taking
out certain things that tend tobe food sensitivities,
inflammatory in your body, thatinflammatory are going to have
reactions of brain fog, offatigue, achiness, things that
(09:10):
you know we may or may not wantbloated.
But the cool part is thereintroduction, as you said, is
you go sort of step by step andyou introduce, you know you
start with, you know whateverfood you want to introduce first
or you're most curious about,and you have you know some
servings of that in sort of avery plain way.
(09:31):
You know nothing else mixed in,so like just an egg, not eggs
and cheese and all kinds ofother stuff, and you let your
body just react to it for a dayor two and just notice anything
and keep a log and it's justreally amazing that it really
will come like your body willtell you.
Your body will tell you andyou're like, oh wow, I haven't
(09:53):
had this sensation in you know21 days or you know four weeks,
you know, since I maybe tookthat food out and it's really
noticeable of what will comeback and some foods you may have
no reaction at all and that'sgreat too, because it's not
meant to take every single youknow thing out of your diet.
But it's just amazing what thebody can tell you when you do
(10:16):
this.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yes, and are there, you know ones, like you said,
gluten, dairy, you know.
Are there ones that are, ifsomeone just wanted to start
dabbling and try to decide.
Are there ones that are the bigones, that are typically the
ones that are inflammatory orthat are, you know, sometimes
(10:38):
troublesome, that you can easily, you know, start to eliminate?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, I mean I would definitely say dairy and gluten
like kind of top that list interms of more, you know,
inflammatory and potentially canbe rougher on your gut and your
microbiome.
So if that's something thatyou're working to heal, you know
, those can often be a place tostart or give yourself a head
(11:03):
start.
You know, everyone is a littledifferent.
You know I, you know, becameaware that I had a sensitivity
to eggs that I really neverwould have thought.
I ate a ton of eggs in my diet,good protein source.
But I was having headaches allthe time.
And I remember, you know, when Iwas told by my provider, like
(11:24):
try, let's try taking out eggs,I was like no A, I eat them so
much and it was like a big, itwas kind of an emotional piece
of like oh my God, what am Igoing to eat for breakfast?
How am I going to do this?
And and also just this, like Idon't believe you, I think eggs
are fine and lo and behold, Ireintroduced eggs and I mean I
(11:46):
was kind of in denial but I didlike immediately have this like
headache, like this groggy kindof feeling, and I was like, oh
no, but I think there wassomething else, and it was so
clear to her that it was theeggs.
So I was like, okay, I'll giveit a rest for now and I and I
still may try to reintroducethem again in the future.
(12:06):
But, um, it really, and it did.
Like I have, I have foundplenty of other things to eat
for breakfast and I make thisreally good like eggless, um, uh
, like beef hash with likevegetables and mushrooms and
sweet potatoes and ground beefand spices and you'd think eggs
(12:26):
would go with that.
But like I really don't miss itand I put some avocado and it
was a shift.
It was a big shift, you know,and that is part of this is, you
know, there's got to be awillingness, I think, to
experiment and make changes andknow that there are other ideas
and options out there, if you'resort of willing to explore them
(12:48):
and experiment.
But yeah, it's a journey forsure and it's a real, you know,
kind of learning exercise.
But yeah, dairy and gluten togo back to that can often be
places to start.
You know, typically on anelimination diet, it's, you know
, pretty focused on, you know,unprocessed foods, so you know
(13:12):
kind of fridge first, healthyproteins, you know lots of
fruits and vegetables andproduce Sugar is another one,
that is, you know lots of fruitsand vegetables and produce, um.
Sugar is another one that is,you know, not great for the
microbiome and, you know,regulating your blood sugar and
can often cause those kind ofhighs and lows of feeling, um,
(13:35):
you know, fatigue or kind ofgroggy and um.
But that can be a hard one,right, because there's forms of
sugar in everything, so that canbe a little more challenging.
But you know there's a lot ofways with sort of the right prep
and the right willingness toget at that too.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So going, you know, to it's almost like Whole30 when
you're doing the elimination,because you're going to more
whole foods and more, yeah,foods that are not over
processed, but then also, yeah,I know that gluten and dairy are
big ones For me, very similarlywith eggs and potatoes, like
(14:19):
those I found to be reallyinflammatory.
So that was something that wasan adjustment for me because,
much like you, I was making asweet potato scrambled egg
veggie bowl in the morning andobviously that was not serving
my body.
But on paper it looked like itwas serving my body because it
was colorful and it had allthese super foods in it, but it
(14:42):
wasn't for me.
So when you're starting anelimination diet we've talked
before on other episodes aboutall or nothing, all in, all out
Do you recommend let's starttomorrow, just eliminate gluten,
eliminate dairy, eliminateeverything, and just do these
(15:02):
whole foods and then start tointroduce one by one after you
have some clean cleansing?
Or is it a gradual thing whereyou do one and then maybe the
other later?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, I think I'll give you the it depends answer.
I mean it depends on theindividual and sort of maybe
what their symptoms are and whattheir goals are.
For me, I can speak personallywith the eggs.
I actually did do the eggs likea few weeks in advance because
I thought that was going to bereally hard for me and so I
(15:32):
wanted to just get used to likewhat the heck am I going to eat,
and because it was such astaple, and so I sort of did
that one in advance.
But I think it depends on wheresomeone is willing to start.
Overall, though, you want tohave those foods that are on you
know the list and there's aspecific list you know all
(15:52):
eliminated in a cumulative.
You know four weeks, so maybeyou start gluten earlier, but
it's sort of going to kick inonce you're doing everything so
that you really get the fullimpact for those triggers to
kind of quiet down in your body.
For certain triggers it takes afew weeks, you know, for your
body really to adjust, which iswhy it's that you know kind of
(16:13):
21 to 28 day mark and that youdo the reintroduction slow and
that is, you know, that adds tothe process, but it's sort of
like if you're going to botherto do and take out these foods,
you want to kind of reintroducethem very slowly the first time
I actually did.
Oh sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
No, I was going to say.
Then you can feel your body andhow it feels when you do the
more mindful introduction.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, yeah, and I think I mean even for
preparation too.
You know, sometimes you know,let's say, someone's going to
start an elimination diet inSeptember.
You know, maybe in Augustthey're just trying to, you know
, start to buy some differentthings in their pantry or in
their refrigerator that aregoing to, you know, start to
switch some of that out.
(16:59):
So it doesn't seem like okay.
I'm making one massive grocerystore trip.
You know the day before I'mstarting this and sort of do it
gradually to start to, you know,kind of realign their pantry a
little bit and and even justmaking like some meal planning.
There's.
There's tools that people canuse to just, I think, with, with
doing an elimination diet, um,uh, just using some kind of
(17:23):
planning system, whatever worksfor an individual.
There's different apps, youknow weekly planners and grocery
shop type stuff, writing itdown on your phone, writing out
on a calendar.
But I think the more you canfind a way that's simple for you
to just kind of plan things out, then it doesn't like as long
as you know what you're going tobe eating, then it doesn't
become oh gosh, well, what am Igoing to eat for dinner and I
(17:45):
can't eat this, and I can't eatthat, and really reversing like
where are all the things that Ican't eat?
There's plenty.
And just having a, you know, alittle bit of a plan in place
can really help ease kind of theprocess and the burden of maybe
cooking a little bitdifferently or not eating out as
much while you're doing theelimination diet, so You're not
(18:06):
eating out as much while you'redoing the elimination diet.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So, you know, helping someone just feel really like
set up and ready before justjumping in, I think is
definitely the way to go.
Yeah, it helps to release thatmental like you're saying that
mental of like workload oftrying to figure it all out one
by one.
Instead you know you have thatplan and you can release and not
worry about it, that you haveit all planned and it's good to
go.
And like you've said before.
You know it is 21 days, it's 28days.
(18:38):
You know we can do anything for30 days.
So let's figure out how we cando this to feel the best in our
body and have that slowintroduction too.
I noticed I eliminated.
You know, I did this five yearsago and I started to introduce
things back in and I broughtdairy back in and I brought
(18:58):
gluten back in, and I know whenI can almost tell.
I know that there are certainpastas.
If I make pasta at home forKyle and we'll have like a pasta
night or something, I willnotice that if I buy a
gluten-free pasta that's made ofsomething like rice or chickpea
, it bloats me more than if Iget like a nice Italian pasta
(19:22):
that has one ingredient, justthe wheat ingredient.
And that was part of my journeytoo, because as I'm eliminating
, I'm thinking, oh, I'll justuse this chickpea pasta, it
would be great.
Well then I realized chickpeais something that I didn't feel
great with and inflamed me.
So that was a part of thejourney too, of me introducing
the types of gluten andrealizing different
manufacturers do different waysof processing their pasta.
(19:45):
That's why I love if I do makepasta I try to buy Italian pasta
, because just the way that it'sproduced has different you know
regulations and how they'reputting everything together.
Yes, and I did a similar thingwith dairy and I realized you
know certain farms.
I felt different.
It was just the same kind ofthing.
So, like you're saying,everything is so specialized for
(20:05):
us and our body that we'll feeldifferent than I'll feel
different than you and viceversa, and we just have to trial
and error, which is also thatpatience as us, as humans, we
have to have that.
I don't like to say have we getto have this patience during
the process to really get toknow our body, which is such a
beautiful gift that we get that.
(20:25):
You know we have thisopportunity to do that and do a
diet like this.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Completely, I totally agree, and I think that's you
know.
What you're touching on is likethat awareness kicking in, that
, even like years or monthslater than you did you know,
kind of an official eliminationdiet, that you're still
listening to those cues, andthat's what's so cool that this
can teach you is it doesn't haveto be just in the 21 days of
(20:51):
like, oh, that didn't really sitright or that didn't make me
feel good, like what you know,kind of what's going on.
And I think that applies toanything food or anything in our
bodies Like the more we can bein tune and have that sense of
awareness of how things make usfeel coming in and out, it just
it's, it's super powerful.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, having that slow and steady mindful
connection and feeling your body, feeling the energy in it,
feeling how it is reacting andfeeling how it's healing and and
giving it space.
You know I like eliminationdiet I I really am so interested
in.
But I also am interested Ithink we've talked about this
before giving your body time todigest, not compounding
(21:33):
something on top of something ontop.
It's just very, very much how Iwas raised was to make sure you
eat and then eat again, andthen eat again and then eat
again.
Giving your time, your body,time to process.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
That's exactly what the reintroduction is Like you
have to wait 48 hours usually inbetween introducing a new food,
just to you know it's notsometimes, and that's what that
was.
Something that I didn't realizeeither is I was like, oh well,
it's an immediate reaction andsometimes that's really more of
a food allergy and that's notnecessarily what we're talking
about here.
We're talking about justsensitivities or triggers or
(22:05):
reactions, and that can be afull 24, 48 hours until your
body actually is like emittingthat symptom from something you
ate, you know, two days ago.
It's not necessarily an instantlike you're going to break out
in hot.
That's an allergy and sothere's a level of patience and
(22:26):
kind of commitment to see that.
But your body will tell you yes.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Your body.
If you're listening, your bodywill tell you.
We have to listen to our body.
Yeah, yeah, Well great.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Any final words on elimination, diet or anything
that we haven't touched on.
No, I think it's important torecognize too and I try to hold
this for individuals that I'mworking with about sometimes the
emotional connection that wehave, you know, just giving up
certain foods or feelingdeprived or changing our habits
Even if it's temporary, therestill can be just a lot.
(23:06):
It can be it feel like a reallybig ask, and so that's
something that I just reallyspend time with people checking
in on of sort of where are theyin terms of that readiness and
really connecting it back tolike the why of what are all the
things that this might do anduncover for them.
But not overlooking that,Because I do think, even in a
(23:28):
short time, you know it's achange, right, and so just not
overlooking that we're askingpeople to make some changes and
change some habits and give upthings that you know might feel
really needed, and so takingthat moment to just acknowledge
that and put that out there, Ithink is important that as well,
(24:07):
because, yeah, that's could bea big part of it.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Especially like I grew up in a food household, we
talked about food all the time.
Everything was food, likeeverything was what are we
having for lunch, dinner, allthis stuff.
So having that, as you know,that emotional connection and
listening to your body andgiving yourself that time and
knowing that you have thatemotional connection to the
process, to the routine, etcetera, is huge.
Thanks for bringing that up.
That's very important, great.
(24:31):
Well, this is another beautifulchat.
Love learning everything thatyou are sharing with your
clients and you're able to helpwomen.
So with us we have Rebecca onthe Modern Zen Collective.
You can see her there andconnect with her through her
website, instagram, throughthere.
But so that listeners know howthey can connect with you, how
can they find you?
(24:51):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So I'm on Instagram it's at Nefesh Living or you can
send me an email at Rebecca atNefeshLivingcom.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Amazing.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, Rebecca.
This has been wonderful, andthank you everyone for listening
through to the end andlistening all about this
elimination diet.
We'll have some links in theshow notes for you and ways that
you can connect with Rebeccaand work with her if you'd like
to do this on your own.
But thank you so much forlistening.
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Rebecca for being here.
Talk to you all soon, all majorplatforms, and take the first
steps towards elevating yourmind, body and spirit For all
resources mentioned in thisepisode and to connect with us
in our conscious community.
Check out the episode shownotes for all links and our
current offerings.
See y'all next time.
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