The Price of Waiting: Why Delaying Care for Digestive Issues Comes at a Cost

As a woman, we have a million and one demands in our face every day - but if we continue to allow the urgent outweigh what's truly important - what is the ultimate price we end up paying? Listen in as we talk through what this means when it comes to your gut health.

Also, this is the last episode for this year! I'm taking a break from releasing new episodes until after the start of the new year to enjoy time with my family and come back and make this show even better for you! Make sure you follow me on Instagram to stay in touch over the next few months, and this is a great opportunity to go back and listen to past episodes you may have missed!

Follow me on Instagram, and send me a DM to let me know what you resonated with in this episode. Ready to begin your gut rehab journey? Watch my program video and let's map out what that looks like for you.

Talk soon!
K


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

Transcript

Katie Lovitt: 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the nourished and thriving show. Today is actually going to be our last show through the holidays. So until 2024, I have been releasing new episodes every single week for over a year now without break. And I really want to take a step back and reflect and allow you guys to catch up on all the episodes that I've put out in the last year. And then come back into the new year and make this show even better than it is right now. So I will be returning. I just wanted to let you guys know, I'm going to step aside for a little bit. Enjoy the holidays with my family, focus on letting some new creative ideas coming in for new episodes that I can continue to serve you guys in an even better capacity. So today we're going to be talking about. you know, how to prioritize and why priorities and setting priorities are so important for gut health. So hang on. And we're going to dig into that in just a second. But also if you're new to this show maybe you've been listening from the beginning from the very first episode, but maybe you've missed a few weeks here and there. This is a great time to go back and re listen to those past episodes because just because they've been out for a little bit, it doesn't make them any less relevant or helpful. So with all that in mind. Let's dig in. you may have seen it in my stories, actually. And You know, if you're not following me on Instagram, you absolutely should, because like I said, in the intro of this episode, I am going to be taking a new board and a little bit of a break from coming out with any new podcast episodes for the next couple of months, just to enjoy the holidays with my family, come back and refresh in the new year with some fresh ideas for you guys. So if you want to stay in touch while I'm taking that little mini podcast hiatus. Make sure you follow me on Instagram because I'm not going to be taking a break there. I'm going to be showing up in stories and having new content come out and all of that. So it's a great way to stay in touch. But I saw this post on Instagram, and it's not anything new or earth shattering, but every single time that I see it, my mind is just a little bit blown. And so I really wanted to share it with you guys today because it's, it's really, really like, it kind of cuts like a knife, but it's a good knife that is like cutting a cancer out. And that cancer is choosing the urgent. Things in the short term, instead of really being able to choose the more important priorities that don't feel as urgent in the moment. And I've talked about this before, but I think it's a really good reminder going into the holiday season just the importance of this. If you choose the urgent themes every single day that are grabbing at your attention, chances are you probably are spending your days. very, very busy and ending your days very tired and oftentimes probably frustrated, feeling like you actually haven't been able to accomplish anything. You've been spending your day spinning your wheels and don't really have anything to show for it. That's a really good indicator that you are choosing the urgent Things instead of the things that are actual priorities to you. And as women, I get it is moms. I get it. Like we have a lot of demands on our schedules, a lot of urgent themes that we have to wade through. And so it can be really challenging to keep up with these priorities. But one of the biggest priorities for most of you guys, if you're listening to this episode, and if you listen to other episodes is. Your health. And that's something that we tend to be able to put on the back burner for a while until we can't. And maybe you're at that point now where you can't put it on the back burner anymore. And you're kind of in a place where it's become an urgent thing because it's been put on the back burner for, you know, months or years. Maybe you're in the place where you are having some digestive symptoms or some health issues. But it's not as urgent as other things in your life yet. And I just wanted to talk through the importance of what is it costing you? This is what I saw on Instagram. What is it costing you to wait to take action? That's the general gist of what I saw. I think, you know, it probably was said a lot more eloquently, but what, what is the, what is the cost of inaction? What is the cost of choosing those urgent themes in your life? What is it costing you to put off making the changes that you need to make to see those priorities? actually be treated like priorities? What is it costing you to put off the changes that you need to make to improve your gut health? Now, for a lot of you guys you know, the cost is maybe something that you're not realizing quite yet. Maybe the cost is in. The future. And that's oftentimes the case whenever we're choosing things that are more urgent but less ultimately important. And then I encourage my clients to ask themselves whenever they're trying to decide if this is something that they're dealing with is what would the me 20 years from now wish that I had chosen today? And that's a really quick way to put it into perspective to understand, you know, is this that I'm choosing to pay attention to right now today actually important to me, or is it just an urgent thing that's like, you know, screaming in my face that I need to just step away from because it's not ultimately a priority. If your health is a priority, but you're not investing in it, you're going to be in that situation. Right? If you can't just say that something's a priority to you and then not take action towards it, you're fooling yourself. You're lying to yourself and you're like, Oh yeah, I'm a healthy person. Oh yeah. Health is a priority to me, but you're not actually living a life. That shows that that shows any evidence of that you're just pulling the wool over your own eyes, and it's not going to benefit you So kind of a heavy episode, sorry for our last one of the year, but it's really important. And I want to give you things to think about as we go into the holiday season. And you know, I shared my journey with boundary setting some on this show and it stems from this. Every time you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to something else and vice versa. Every time you say no to something, you're saying yes to something. So maybe you got nominated for committee and you don't necessarily feel like it's something That is aligned with your purpose or something that you actually have it as a priority to be, but you feel bad or feel guilty saying no, or like who else is going to do it? I should say yes. And you say, yes, maybe you're not even aware of all of those. thoughts, but you say yes. And by doing that, you're saying no to other things. Maybe you're saying no to peace in your home or more quality time with your family or you know, time to meal plan and prep your food and you're scrambling for meals because you said yes to something that you should have said no to, or that you really wanted to say no to, and you just didn't think through it. And likewise, whenever you say no to something, you're saying yes to something else. So just using that committee example. By saying no to that, if you were to say no to it, what all are you saying yes to? And I think as women, we tend to be overly responsible for things. I think that we step into other people's duties and responsibilities and shoulder that burden. And some of it is kind of what society has expected of us. Like to be like, carry it. And we're under this misconception that if we don't do it, it won't get done. And first of all, is that true? And second of all, Is that a bad thing? You know, I think it really, it really opened my eyes whenever somebody shared with me one time. Well, what if by you stepping in and taking this on yourself is robbing somebody else of the opportunity to step up and take this responsibility on and experience that personal growth. And so by you being responsible for this and thinking that you're serving somebody really well, you're actually doing them a disservice. So just think through that, you know, are there any areas in your life where you're doing things that maybe aren't yours to do or your loads to carry? And are you possibly disturbing somebody in that way? Like one way I have you know, client I was talking with where She has older kids. Her oldest is 18 and her youngest is 10. And she has four kids kind of spread in that range. And she was not eating breakfast or lunch because she was a short order cook for them in the morning and, you know, making their lunches and making their breakfast and doing all of these things for all of them. And her own health was suffering. And she felt like she had to because she was their mom and that was her job. And I really encouraged her to shift that a little bit because she You know, cooking for your meal for your kids and not teaching them how to do those things is ultimately doing them a disservice because eventually they're going to leave home and if they don't have those skills, they're not going to magically have them whenever they leave the nest, right? Like as, as parents, we're preparing our children to become adults. And so she did. She met with her kids and was like, okay, guys, we're going to do some of this as a family, like some things have got to change. And she said they were so excited to pitch in and help out. They ate the meals actually better because they were more invested in it. And it was a really positive experience for everyone. And she was just under this. belief that it was her duty and responsibility as a mom and as a wife to do all of these things at her own expense. And it just wasn't ultimately the case, you know, and her kids and her family were actually really grateful. For that additional responsibility, and it brought them all closer as a family. So that's a pretty black and white example, but it's hard to see it sometimes, even if it's black and white, it's hard to see it in our own lives. So I really encourage you to examine your life and explore those things. Maybe spend some time thinking or journaling. What are some of the things that, you know, write down all the things that you do, all the things that you spend your time doing in a day. And you know, Really think through, like, are these my loads to bear? Is it someone else's job to do these? Are they important? You know, does it actually matter if they get done in the long run? And what are my real priorities? We talk a lot about setting those boundaries, but if you don't know what your priorities are, how can you set those boundaries? How can you know when to say no if you don't know what is important to you? And a lot of the time we just get so caught up in saying yes and managing all of those important things that are coming our way that we never take a step back and really determine even what's actually a priority and what matters to us most. So I encourage you to, you know, make a list of five to seven different priority buckets. And as new opportunities or new things are presented to you, you know, ask yourself, is this in one of these buckets? And if not, it's an easy, no. And if it is, it's something that you're going to try and figure out how to work into your routine. And I hope. that for every single person listening that your health is a priority to you. So, you know It really needs to be because if you are not healthy 20 years from now, what is that going to mean to your life? You know, I think that's something that just is really, really non negotiable. And so as women, we need to stop negotiating our health. We need to stop negotiating our wellbeing at the expense so that we can benefit others, you know So what are you doing? So a lot of the time this comes up with gut health stuff too, because we can really carry things for a long time, can't we? We can shoulder symptoms, we can push it aside, we can cope, we can deal, we can get by. Humans are you know, animals that, you know, Carry on. We carry on, you know, and shove it under the rug until we just can't anymore. And so what is it costing you? What is not prioritizing your health ultimately going to cost you? Is there going to be a time where you have a breakdown, a physical or a mental or emotional breakdown in the future because you haven't been taking care of things that need to be taken care of? Are you going to hit that physical wall in the future where all of a sudden? Your health stuff has gotten completely out of hand, and it's going to take even more energy than ultimately to get better to get well than it would have if you would have dealt with it whenever it's first coming up. So a little bit of tough love for you, but leading into the holiday season, there's gonna be even more urgent things on your plate. So I just really encourage you Maybe, you know, you have some of those life priorities that we mentioned. And then within those, once you have those written out, what are your holiday priorities this year? You know, and they should align with those life priorities. Maybe it's really quality time with your family. Well, how can you do that? How can you create that? How can you be more present with them? And ultimately, if that means that you need to be a healthier, more energetic, more present you, Then figure out what steps you need to take to make sure that happens and you guys This is all things I do with my clients inside of gut rehab Which I know may sound kind of bananas to you because it's not quote unquote nutrition work but it is mind work and it is priorities work and that has to do with health because if you you know, don't have the bandwidth to set these boundaries and set these priorities. You're not going to have the bandwidth to take to do the work that it's going to require in my program to see the results. And so it is all connected. So I'm giving you guys a little glimpse there. If you're trying to do these things and struggling or, you know, your health is a priority and you know that, and you're really struggling with how to. implement that priority and take action towards it in your day to day life. Reach out, gut rehab might be a really awesome solution for you to have a playbook, have a step by step, have a little accountability and guidance, and just help you make your health a priority so that you can show up more fully for those around you. And so reach out to me on Instagram. Check out my website. All of the links are here below in the show notes, and we can definitely have a conversation about what that looks like. So that is all happy 2023. I will see you guys in 2024. Go back and listen to old episodes, leave my show a five star rating and a quick one to two sentence review. And I would so appreciate it. And I can't wait to talk with you guys all very soon.