Jessica Mosiuk, Registered Holistic Nutritionist
#460 - 2184 West Broadway V6K2E4 Vancouver, BC, Canada

When I was 19 I wanted to be a Special Effects Make Up Artist and so I moved to Vancouver to go to makeup school. Turns out it wasn’t the career for me- sleep and a regular schedule are too important to my body - but it makes Halloween costumes SUPER fun. I look forward to costume planning all year and usually start in July. This year, of course, is different because I’ll be staying home so I’m reminiscing about my favourite costumes over the years. Swipe to see: Goblin... crone - this was a prosthetic piece that I painted at the last minute for a work costume. Dragon (with Dave as the paperback princess lolol) - this was by far the most work I’ve ever put into a costume. It was a full body suit that I painted, a full tail with spikes and clawed feet and hands. It also had wings that I could make fly in and out. I remember dancing, using the wings to fly to the beat and hitting people around me lol. I also made that head dress which had spikes down a big long braid at the end of my head. Dave hasn’t agreed to a couples costume since bahahah. Scorpion from Mortal Kombat - my favourite! I loved this one. I was obsessed with MK as a kid. Mileena from Mortal Kombat- had to do an MK costume two years in a row because I love it so much. The makeup is based off of Mileena’s Fatality move called the Kiss of Death where she sucks the soul out of her opponent. Medusa - my favourite makeup costume! Though the prosthetic brow gave me quite a headache haha. Sigh, really missing dressing up this year but I’ll just have to make it up...in 2022?! Happy Halloween, everyone! See more

Most of my client's gut health journeys before working with me have looked like this: experience chronic symptoms for several years bounce from doctor to doctor, test to test, with no conclusive answers get fed-up and do their own research... try a few different things, maybe with some success but no true relief do more research but get overwhelmed with all the info waste a ton of money on supplements stay stuck living with the same symptoms because they don't know what to focus on It was me, too, over a decade ago and long before I became a Holistic Nutritionist, so I definitely understand. At first it feels so empowering- taking your health into your own hands and exploring the world of holistic health- but it soon becomes overwhelming and confusing. There's just out there and just as many different "expert" ways to approach gut health. How do you know where to start? This is what my coaching program helps with. I streamline the gut healing process, helping you to prioritize the things that are going to move the dial the most, in a way that you can fit into your life. To give you an idea of what some of my clients achieved last week: W. reduced symptoms (gas, bloating) by 20% in our five days of working together. She has been suffering daily for 5+ years so this is a huge win. J. went from pooping every three days to having a BM every day without using harsh laxatives. T. is eating 30% more carbohydrates without bloating, is down 5 lbs and is able to fall asleep right away at night (insomnia was a main symptom). This is actually my favourite time of year in my coaching program because we get to navigate all the food-driven holidays together (spoiler alert: I don't ask you to white knuckle your way through the holidays, avoiding sugar/dairy/wheat/alcohol/fun/life). You get the most from coaching when we work together through real life situations, not just when you have a quiet social month. All the coaching details are here: www.theibsgirl.com/work-with-me

It can feel like we are doing all the right things... Eating well Eating enough fiber Drinking enough water... Getting enough sleep Yet symptoms aren't budging: gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea. And it's so frustrating, right? But sometimes all it takes is a third party look (Hi, hello, it's me ) and a couple of tweaks to shift things. Examples from recent clients: O. was struggling with constipation and told me she was 'eating lots of fiber'. Using a food diary, I saw that she was actually 15 grams short of optimal pooping fiber intake so with a few small tweaks of her fiber intake she was pooping regularly again. L. couldn't eat more than a few bites of food without being full and feeling like food was sitting like a brick in their stomach. "I'm eating light, low fat meals- what am I doing wrong?". Bloating, gas and painful abdominal distension were part of their every day. We tweaked the texture of their food, changed the size and timing of their meals and they no longer had these signs of indigestion. J. was struggling with an IBS-y nervous stomach and felt exhausted all the time. "I get 8 hours of sleep every night- why am I so tired?". Using a sleep tracker, we discovered that she was waking up before her last REM cycle of the night so even though she was in bed for 8 hours she wasn't getting enough deep sleep. Shifting her wake up time by one hour and creating a calm, focused eating environment got rid of her nervous stomach. If you feel like you are doing all the right things but are still struggling, let's talk. My coaching doors are open. Full details (including price) are always in the link in my profile @theibsgirl See more

Are you someone that’s always had a ‘sensitive stomach?’.... Does it feel like one day you just started reacting to everything you ate? That bloating and gas suddenly became part of your every day whereas it used to be just once in a while if you ate something off bad?... This is the tipping of the microbial scales. There are trillions of organisms that reside in your gut, the microbiome. Some of us start life with a tipped microbiome whether that’s inherited from the mother (first exposure comes from birth) or a result of childhood diet or illness requiring recurring antibiotics. Various things throughout your life will sway the microbial scales back and forth (I’ll just use good and bad as easy descriptions here). The bad: stress, binge drinking, certain medications like birth control, highly processed & low fiber diet, illness. The good: fibre, probiotic-rich food, sufficient sleep, enjoyment from vacationing and hobbies, healthy relationships. In my 1:1 coaching I have new clients think back to when the microbial scales tipped for the worse: the most common theme is a period of extreme stress or illness. And it feels, to them, like they’ll never break free from their symptoms. But over time, as we make little tweaks here and there, the microbial scales tip back. Some times it takes longer. But slowly but surely symptoms start to resolve and they start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, if you’ve deemed yourself as just one of those people with a sensitive stomach- it doesn’t have to be like that. Get in touch with me @theibsgirl See more

Something that comes up a lot in my 1:1 coaching practice is letting go of nutrition beliefs that aren’t serving you. I see this particularly strong with nutrition for gut health because there are many hard rules that have been popularized. Some examples of things I hear often: I can’t eat starch because I have SIBO.... I can’t eat sugar, even fruit, because I have yeast overgrowth. I avocado but they have FODMAPs so I never eat them. And yet, non-gut symptoms are popping up like: Hair loss Energy crashes Brittle nails Hanger Mood swings Menstrual changes Insomnia Binge eating episodes These are your body’s way of saying you aren’t feeding me the right things. So we work on letting go of these hard rules. We bring in starches that are easily digested. We find that sweet spot (pun intended) of natural sugars that feed your brain (yes, your brain needs sugar) in balance with the rest of your diet. We bring in those favourite foods in the right amounts so that you actually enjoy your diet. So, if you follow a lot of hard rules around nutrition and are struggling with many multi-system symptoms I would challenge these rules. See how much you can bend them. Especially as we move towards food driven holidays (Canadian Thanksgiving is in TWO weeks which means ski season is getting real close ). And, I’m here for you if you need help doing so See more