Rabbit Holes + Sprinkler Systems - This is Why You Aren't Getting Results with Gut Healing

In this episode of The Nourished and Thriving Show, host Katie Lovitt, a registered dietitian, discusses the common pitfalls of attempting to self-manage gut health and IBS symptoms. Rather than diving into disjointed research and trying individual remedies, she encourages listeners to seek a holistic understanding and support system for their health. Katie uses the metaphor of her father's struggles with a home sprinkler system to illustrate how tackling health issues without a complete picture can lead to frustration and inefficiency. She emphasizes the importance of community, professional guidance, and personalized health strategies over the solitary and often fruitless pursuit of self-diagnosis and treatment. The episode aims to inspire listeners to reconsider their approach to managing gut health, urging them to prioritize comprehensive understanding and support over isolated attempts at solutions.

Find Katie:
Schedule a Free Clarity Call with Katie!
Website - www.nourishthrivewellness.com
Instagram - @the_healthygut_dietitian
Facebook

00:00 Introduction and the Importance of a Holistic Approach

00:38 Welcome to The Nourished and Thriving Show

01:18 The Pitfalls of Trying to Solve Health Issues Alone

02:28 The Power of Community and Seeking Help

05:56 The Complexity of Gut Health and the Need for Expertise

07:41 The Sprinkler System Analogy: Understanding the Whole Picture

10:44 Becoming an Expert in Yourself: The Key to Healing

13:06 Invitation to Seek Help and Conclusion

14:08 Outro and Contact Information

Find Katie:

Website - www.nourishthrivewellness.com
Instagram - @nourish.thrive.nutrition
Facebook

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Because right now, I'm just likelooking for individual little
parts at a time.
And it's not effective becauseI'm not able to really get to
the entire thing.
And that's what a lot of youguys are doing with your gut
health is you're going downthese little rabbit holes of
research of, oh, well, I heardthat slippery LMT might help my
gas trader.

(00:21):
So I'm reading all the thingsabout this and then aloe might
help my gastro Titus, but you'renot able to see the whole web
and the whole toolbox and thewhole.
All of the details aboutgastritis.
This is just an example isgastros.
You're not able to see all ofthe different things.
You're not getting the completepicture.
Hey, everyone.
Welcome to The Nourished andThriving Show.

(00:42):
I'm your host, Katie Lovitt.
I'm a registered dietitian on amission to help you increase
your impact and legacy on theworld while healing your gut and
reducing your IBS symptoms.
I'm so grateful to have youhere.
Each week I'll inspire you tolive vibrantly and provide
valuable resources andinformation that empowers you to

(01:05):
take bold action towards yourhealth goals.
Before we dive in, make sure youfollow or subscribe to my show
wherever you're listening so younever miss an episode.
Ready?
Let's go! So today we're talkingabout something that you may not
even be aware of that you'redoing, but some of you guys are

(01:25):
very aware.
So how many times have youthought to yourself?
I can just do this on my own, orI should be able to take care of
my own body and just figure thisout.
I should know what to do.
What is wrong with me that Ican't figure this out?
Like, why am I the only personwho I know who's dealing with
these issues and you know, itcan't be that hard.

(01:49):
I hear this a lot where peopleare really just wanting to
research and find out all thethings for themselves and forge
their own paths and really likeharness their health and go for
it.
And I love this.
It's so cool.
You're really bootstrapping it.
You're being resourceful, beinginventive.
That's really like the American.

(02:13):
Ideal right.
Is we're independent.
We're self-made self-sufficientbeing resourceful, being
inventive.
You know, all of those themesand.
I love that people are taking aninterest and owning their own
health.
But there's some downsides tothis too.
And you know, we're really madeto live in community and we're

(02:35):
made to depend on others and.
We don't like hearing that a lotof the time, it was a really
tough pill for me to swallow.
Whenever I first really came tothis realization because I'm
very independent, high achiever,all of the things.
And I'm just realizing, youknow, it's actually not how it

(02:55):
was made, was to be able to doit all on my own.
I actually was made to.
I live in community and dependson others.
And I actually, there was asermon in our church for those
of you guys who are alsoChristians.
This may resonate with you too.
I'm like, it resonated with me,but there's a whole sermon in

(03:15):
one of the lines that the pastorsaid, just like blew my mind,
but it was, you can't be aChristian.
Without being needy.
You can't be a Christian andhave all the answers and rely on
yourself.
Like that's the exact oppositeof the entire point of being a
Christian and.

(03:36):
I know a lot of the time, liketalking with you guys, you feel
like you're a burden to others,or you don't want to be holding
other people back.
And you know, you don't want tobe the burden of spending the
money to get help with this.
You don't want to be the burdenof.
You know, we're going to arestaurant and I can't eat what
other people are eating.
And everyone's like worriedabout me and can enjoy

(03:58):
themselves because of me.
And all of that, but what if theopposite were true?
Like what if your gut healthissues right now?
If you really stopped intocommunity with it.
Really helped.
Develop deeper, more meaningfulrelationships with other people.
What if you let people comealongside of you in this time of

(04:19):
need of this time, where youneed some help and you need some
support.
To try and figure this out.
And it actually brought you guyscloser together instead of just
staying on this surface level ofpretending, like everything's
fine and you're getting by andeverything's great.
And hunky-dory and you're goingto figure it out on your own.
What if you asked for help?

(04:41):
You know, and whether, if it wasthe best decision you ever made.
Just a challenge for you in yourthought process.
I'd love for you guys to askyourself.
Am I, you know, really beingprideful in my approach and.
Not seeking out help because Iwant to do it on my own.
Or am I feeling like a burdenunnecessarily instead of relying

(05:05):
on this community of peoplearound me to help me help
support me with their, you know,compassion or empathy and just
holding space for me or pointingme in the direction of resources
that can be really helpful.
Am I being prideful in trying tohave all of the answers and be
the expert in everything insteadof admitting that I.
I don't know everything and, youknow, getting some help.

(05:28):
That's not everyone, but maybeit's you.
And if it is, you know,recognizing that and then asking
yourself, do I want to continueon this path?
Is it fulfilling?
Is it getting me where I want togo?
Or is it just keeping mespinning in circles, increasing
my stress level and you know,maybe making my symptoms worse
ultimately.

(05:48):
I am tired of it, you know, andI want to do some things
differently, kind of a heavystart to this episode.
Sorry guys.
But it's really important.
Trying to figure things out onyour own can actually make you
feel worse.
And I just want to reassure you.
So I'm here figuring out guthealth and your body is
complicated.
Sometimes I'm like, man.

(06:10):
Maybe I should just do somethingsimple.
With my wife, I wanted to gointo fashion or rather boutique.
And now I'm like dealing withall of this super complex
biochemical stuff.
And it's, it's a lot and it's alot for me.
And I've had thousands of hoursof training.
This is what I really given mywife too, is to help people.
And that's why I'm never gonnastop because you know, unless

(06:32):
God calls me to do somethingelse, but if you guys need help,
you know, and people aren'thelping you and they're things
that can be done.
I was just talking withsomebody.
Somebody this morning about thathave.
She was just really blown awayby my approach and process
because she was like, I justfeel so brushed off by so many
doctors and I'm told nothing canbe done or I'm told, oh, it's

(06:53):
IBS and take this medication andmanage the symptoms.
But then I talked to you and Irealized you do know a lot of
things that actually can help mein a much bigger way.
Than what I've been told before.
And that's why I do this.
But it's complicated this forthem saying it's, it's hard.
I don't work with very manypeople even at a time because

(07:16):
it's really, really complicatedand I need to know what's going
on really well with my clientsso that I can help them.
But if you're, if you're missingthings, if you're trying to
bootstrap it and you're missingthings or not seeing a complete
picture.
You won't get the results you'rehoping for.
And.
You know, a lot of you guys knowa lot about gut health, but.
You can't.

(07:37):
Become an expert by going downrabbit holes.
I'm actually going to tell youguys a story about my dad and
his sprinkler system.
I love my dad.
He's an engineer and he's funnyand he can literally do
anything.
He could build a house, he couldfix anything.
I'm quite convinced of it, butthey moved into this new house

(08:00):
few years ago.
The story just came to me.
So bear with me, but I thinkit's really relevant.
They moved into their new housefew years ago.
How that built the whole thing.
And he kept, they have likeinsane landscaping.
I've told you guys, my mom justcompleted the course to become a
master gardener.
They live out on land and alwayshave projects and they're

(08:21):
amazing.
But my dad had this hugesprinkler system.
I don't even know how manystations they have in this
thing.
It's ridiculous.
But anyway, He kept havingissues with it.
And he did not install thesprinkler system.
They had it installed whenever.
They built the house, but theykept having issues with it.
And so he kept trying to have tolike find the lines underground

(08:42):
on make repairs.
Like there was like rocksblocking lines.
Like it was not really installedproperly in some of the parts.
And he kept having to go in andfix it, but it was really,
really hard to fix it.
Because he didn't know what theentire system looked like.
He didn't have a map and he kepttrying to ask somebody, like, I
need a map of like a layout oflike here's where all of the

(09:04):
different lines are.
Here's where they all connect.
Because right now, I'm just likelooking for individual little
parts at a time.
And it's not effective becauseI'm not able to really get to
the entire thing.
And that's what a lot of youguys are doing with your gut
health is you're going downthese little rabbit holes of
research of, oh, well, I heardthat slippery LMT might help my

(09:26):
gas trader.
So I'm reading all the thingsabout this and then aloe might
help my gastro Titus, but you'renot able to see the whole web
and the whole toolbox and thewhole.
All of the details aboutgastritis.
This is just an example isgastros.
You're not able to see all ofthe different things.
You're not getting the completepicture.
You're just like chasing downthese little individual

(09:46):
sprinkler lines.
You're not seeing how they allfit together and you're not
going to get great results.
Well, a few years later, my dadended up getting his map.
This sprinkler system.
And now whenever he has anissue, he knows where everything
is.
You can go straight out and gofix it instead of, you know,
spending half his time.
Just trying to look for wherethe problem might be and where
the line is, the whole of that.

(10:07):
I can guarantee you whenever youare.
Chasing you down thoseindividuals, sprinkler lines,
never here chasing down thoseindividual symptoms or
individual solutions or thissupplement or that elimination
diet in this issue.
You are going to spend way askmy dad about this.
You're going to be spending waymore time and money.
Doing that than if you had justpartnered with somebody who

(10:31):
already has the map.
Getting somebody who alreadyknows the deal.
And helping you come up with apersonalized plan.
To get you the results that youneed.
That's going to be so much moreefficient.
It's going to help you not spendas much time or money, you know,
while you're feeling really bad,you're going to get better

(10:51):
results faster.
Instead of trying to bootstrapyour way out of a hot mess gut.
And really like inadvertentlylike rabbit hole, one sprinkler
line at a time becoming anexpert.
In all things got held in allthings, nutrition, 80% of which
are completely irrelevant toyour specific situation.

(11:15):
What if instead.
You had full understandingaround what is causing your
specific symptoms?
What is your body trying to tellyou with these symptoms and what
do you specifically need to do?
About them to heal and to feelbetter.

(11:36):
Do you see what I'm saying here?
It's so much more direct.
And trying to bootstrap it,which yes.
Is admirable in some ways.
But it's also really frustratingme watching you struggle and
watching you try and do this andfigure it out and just, you get
frustrated and you feel defeatedwhile you're trying to do all of
this.
And then you tell me I've triedeverything.
Nothing helps.
I'm never going to feel better.

(11:57):
Okay, well, you've tried alittle bit, like if you're
watching this on YouTube, you'vetried a tiny wedge of this whole
pie.
But it's because you don't evenknow that the rest of the pie is
there of things to try becauseyou don't have full mastery and
understanding.
Of gut health and of the body,right.
That is exactly what my gutrehab program is designed to do.

(12:20):
And that is what is going tohelp you finally feel like
yourself again, is having fullunderstanding around what's
causing your symptoms.
Fully understanding what yourbody's trying to tell you.
And exactly what to do aboutthose things.
Whenever you have those things,you're not an expert in
nutrition or gut health.

(12:40):
No, but you become an expert inyourself.
And that's what most of you guysneed to feel confident.
Back to your normal self full ofenergy, full of life.
And like you're able to justfully show up and be present in
the way that you're meant to be.
Instead of being consumed,trying to research, trying to

(13:01):
understand, trying to bootstrap.
And do it all yourself.
So.
I hope that this gives you.
Maybe an aha light bulb momentof maybe you've been trying to
bootstrap it and you didn't evenrealize it before.
Maybe you were trying tobootstrap it, trying to be
resourceful and you realized,you know, I'm actually spending

(13:22):
way more energy and resourcestrying to do this myself than if
I were to just get some helpfrom somebody who can really
help me.
You know, And if that's you, ifwhat I've said resonates with
you today, and you'd like totalk with me more about how I
can help you feel better,faster.
I'd love to talk with you.
You can go down to the shownotes in this episode.

(13:43):
Schedule a free call with me.
Let's chat.
Send me a message over onInstagram.
I respond to all my messages.
So let's just have aconversation about where you're
at.
Where do you want to be?
And what do you think is keepingyou from really getting there?
This world deserves you shiningbrightly, the world needs you
shining brightly.
And I hope that you're able tofeel like your normal self

(14:05):
again, really soon.
Talk next time.
Thank you so much for listeningto the entire episode.
I hope you are feeling inspiredand empowered to take bold
action towards your healthgoals.
If you enjoy what you heard,don't forget to follow my show
so you never miss a new episode.

(14:25):
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others know what to expect frommy show.
Last, get in touch.
Let me know what bold actionyou're taking.
Let me know how you're inspired.
Follow me on Instagram@the_healthygut_dietitian.
I've put a link in my show notesfor you, so you can simply click

(14:47):
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Come say hi, I respond to all mymessages and I can't wait to get
in touch.