Dr. Heather Finley - The Healthy, Happy Gut Cookbook

I am excited you picked up this book! Maybe you did because you have been diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Maybe you dont have a diagnosis but you struggle with symptoms such as constipation, bloating, diarrhea, gas or food anxiety because of your digestive issues. Or maybe you feel like you have tried everything to resolve your gut symptoms and at this point you are starting to feel as though you will have to live with these symptoms indefinitely. Ive been there, too. The topic of gut health is quite trendy and somewhat of a buzzword these days. Every day we are learning more about how so many things (like mental health, skin health and even cardiovascular health) are connected back to the health of the gut.

Although your gut microbiota might not be a normal dinner conversation starter, I think by the end of this book you will have a newfound appreciation and admiration for it. Your wonderful gut microbiota is made up of trillions of microbes that reside right inside of your intestines. Crazy, right? And what really blows my mind is that unlike our genes, we can impact the makeup of our gut by how we eat, how we move, how we sleep and even how we manage stress. I struggled with chronic constipation for 20 years of my life. At times I thought to myself that it must just be normal to get bloated after eating anything, but later in life I learned that my struggle with constipation was anything but that. After years of hopping from one doctor to the next only to be told to just eat more fiber or just take MiraLAX, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I had a lightbulb moment while I was in my doctorate program that made me realize my constipation and bloat might not just be food related. My years of elimination diets, restriction, overexercising and isolating myself from social events that involved food were in fact hurting my gut more than they were helping. At one point, I remember feeling as though there were only five foods that I could safely eat without bloating, gas or abdominal pain. I know that the thousands of clients I have worked with have felt this way, too, and maybe you do as well. I am here to help you dispel the food fear, improve your food variety and learn to fuel your gut with the diversity it craves (without a side of guilt!). The years of digestive symptoms, food elimination and stress over my gut fueled my passion for helping as many people as possible get off the vicious-symptom cycle I was on for so many years.

I hope that this book provides you with a new perspective and empowers you to take action toward improving your digestive symptoms.

This book is meant to help you find sustainable relief from your digestive symptoms by slowly implementing strategies that become lifelong habits. This book is not a quick fix, fad or detox; to truly find long-term relief from your symptoms, the most important ingredients are consistency and time. This may be different than anything you have done before and may require you to really challenge your mindset about your symptoms, food and your body. We cover all of that in this book, and I hope that you finish reading feeling inspired, refreshed and encouraged that your digestive health journey does not have to involve extremes or fads. To date, I have worked with more than 1,000 women in the gutTogether program, and there is one common theme I have observed.

In todays wellness-obsessed world, the focus of digestive health is often backward. Instead of setting our intentions on sustainability and lifelong change, we are focused on the latest fad, detox or trend. This leaves people, just like you, feeling discouraged and as though they will never be perfect enough to find the relief they seek. I am here to change that narrative. Digestive health is not about restriction. Its about abundance, both in your life and on your plate.

When you focus on the foundational habits that are emphasized in this book (and often overlooked in todays society), you can find relief with ease. You can rediscover the vibrancy you once had and live your life empowered in a way you have never known before. This book will walk you step by step through the foundational habits necessary to promote digestive health and provide you with solutions that you might have not tried before. If you try to make all these changes at once, you will be overwhelmed. Instead, implement one change at a time and celebrate your successes along the way. Rather than focusing on all the changes that you have not been able to implement, celebrate everything that you have already implemented.

This mindset shift can be powerful and will help sustain you as you take the next steps. There is a useful guide in that will help you keep track of the sustainable changes you are making and add one new habit at a time. Use the weekly reflection checklist on your journey and make sure you evaluate at the end of each week so you notice how every implementation is providing more ease and more relief to your symptoms.

If you dont know why your symptoms are happening, its hard to know what to do in order to relieve them. Perhaps this is why you feel stuck. This section of the book will help you understand the symptoms you are experiencing and create an action plan for relief.