Welcome to Follow Your Gut MDNP!

First off, I would like to welcome you to the official Follow Your Gut MDNP blog! Our intention is for this to serve as a platform for Jaci and I to share everything from our wellness tips to meal recipes to our thoughts on anything and everything health related. Some of the content will be our opinions, while some will be more “scientific,” if you will. Regardless, we want you to gain as much as possible from what we write and are always going to be open to feedback and suggestions regarding what YOU want us to talk about. Our intention is to make this blog as interactive as possible, so please, comment away

With that in mind, I wanted to share what lead us to start Follow Your Gut MDNP in the first place! Both Jaci and I have been working in the family medicine field for over 5 years- long enough to realize the pitfalls of the conventional medical system; starting with the enormous lack of attention on lifestyle factors in the prevention and management of chronic disease. While they are, on occasion, acknowledged, it is rare that a health care provider will take the time (or be ABLE to take the time, even if they want to) to discuss the connection between a patient’s lifestyle and their symptoms and medical problems. Instead, medications are the go-to for everything. Lets be honest, it takes less than 5 min to write a prescription, while discussing diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors takes a heck of a lot longer. Certainly longer than a 10min visit with a health care provider can accommodate! In the rare situation where a patient is given the advice to “start exercising and eating healthy,” they leave the office feeling overwhelmed, confused, and unsure of where to even start. The million and one diets, workout programs, and weight loss plans out there do nothing to simplify things and just add to the overwhelm. So what ends up happening? Nothing. The patient continues to do the same thing they’ve been doing, perhaps trying to make some changes but ultimately falling off track and becoming discouraged.

We don’t just see this issue of overwhelm and lack of guidance with diet and exercise. As women, we are often burdened with the task of balancing multiple roles. Our careers, motherhood duties, and relationship with our partners are constantly battling for our attention and somehow we are supposed to show up 100% in each of those areas- while at the same time taking care of ourselves by exercising regularly, eating healthy, sleeping 8hrs a night, meditating, engaging in personal development… oh yeah, and remembering to shave our legs! Seriously, its no wonder that most of us are a bundle of stress and anxiety!

And this is where “Follow Your Gut MDNP” comes in. When we are stressed, experiencing negative physical symptoms, and don’t know where to turn or what to do, we are often told “listen to your body” or “follow your gut.” Talk about vague advice! But… its GOOD advice. That’s if we are in touch with our bodies and intuition. And in our constant state of overwhelm its hard to hear what our body wants and needs. The stir of our intuition is crowded out by the constant demands from everyone and everything around us. We need guidance in understanding what our gut is telling us and in becoming the best versions of ourselves- from both a physical and mental standpoint. Our hope for this blog and Follow Your Gut MDNP is that it will serve as this guide. Ultimately it is up to you to make the changes in your life that will lead you to a place of health and happiness, but we are here to support you in every way that we can- both as a resource and as fellow women dealing with the exact same struggles.

Ladies, our gut is a powerful thing and it knows the exact thing we need in order to thrive and live our best life. So let’s start following it, shall we?

Sending you positive and healthy vibes,

Erin