Hi Katie. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to the Nutrisense CGM Program.
I’m a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with the Create Cures Foundation Clinic in Santa Monica, CA, and @vitaminkatie on Instagram.
I was inspired years ago to pursue a career in nutrition related to being inspired by the power of food to prevent and even reverse disease. In high school, I went down the rabbit hole of veganism, and combined with stress from school and insecurities about my body, I found myself with hormonal imbalances.
In 2018, I was diagnosed with prediabetes as well as PCOS.
Since then, I've taken many action steps to take care of my body as a whole, mindset and self-worth practices included, and I include holistic health and mindset, as well as nutrition, in each consultation.
I have been plant-based for over ten years, and I wrote my master's thesis on plant-based nutrition and cancer, so it's great now to work closely with cancer patients and help them with a plant-forward approach. I am also a published author of the “Heart Disease Cookbook” and a certified vegan chef, and I love providing educational cooking classes and food demonstrations for many audiences.
As someone with PCOS and prediabetes, I find it amazing that this technology is available to help balance blood sugars and hormones. Many people don’t realize that insulin is a hormone and affects our reproductive system hormones a lot!
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How did the CGM Program help with your health goals?
My goals were to stabilize my blood sugars and overall hormone balance with a plant-based approach.
I’ve been using the CGM for two weeks—this is my fourth time over the course of eight months. It’s a super necessary tool for me to stay in check with how I’m doing. I definitely want to continue using and learning more about myself and what works best for my body.
I learned it helps me most when I log more info! Seeing how the carb and protein grams, type of exercise, and how much sleep I get affect my sugars is so beneficial. Just wearing it and not logging any details is a waste.
It helped so much with accountability, too, especially because it also comes with a nutritionist in your pocket thanks to the 1:1 support option.
Did you learn anything surprising about your lifestyle or diet?
The most surprising thing was to see how stress spiked my blood sugars more than anything else. I travel a lot, so I also learned to stick to high-fat, high-protein foods while I'm on the go.
That’s all wonderful! So, what would you say the biggest takeaway from your health journey is?
Mindset is a huge component! For a long time, we thought that mind and body were separate; they are one and the same. I see this in my glucose scores: the numbers are all over the place when I am stressed.
Also, to maintain health-promoting behaviors, I must lead from a place of empowerment and sustainability. I used to go to extremes; the biggest takeaway from my health journey is to take care of my body as a whole, mind included.
