Jess Faulds: my rule is if you bite it, you write it.

I want you to start being mindful of what you are putting in your body. And then at the end of the day you also say, how was I feeling this today? Like, how, what did my body do?

Julie Howton: (Intro) Welcome back to the Inspire Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Houghton, and today we're joined by Jessica Fad, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 15 years old. A moment that completely reshaped her life. After years of navigating treatments, doctors and the emotional rollercoaster of chronic illness, she underwent a stem cell transplant at age 27 that successfully stopped the progression of her MS.

Through it all, she discovered how powerful nutrition, movement and lifestyle can be in supporting the body through complex health challenges. Today she works as a holistic nutrition coach and fitness instructor. Helping others navigate chronic illness, autoimmune conditions, hormonal changes, and neuro judge divergence with realistic science-based strategies.

Permission is simple to show others that while we may not choose our diagnosis, we can absolutely choose how we show up for our health, our bodies, and our lives. In today's conversation, we are talking about the power of a positive mindset and how we can support our healing with nutrition and movement when we tune in and listen to our bodies. (Main interview) Jess, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited for you to share your journey with listeners. Um, I know this is gonna be a great conversation, but I also, the whole reason we do the podcast is for inspiration, and you have an amazing autoimmune healing journey. 

Jess Faulds: Uh, it's been a, uh, long 19 years, I 

Julie Howton: would say.

Yeah. So share with us a little bit of, 'cause you're so young, so, um, for people watching on video, they're like 19 years. Um, yeah, 

Jess Faulds: I, I, I do get that a lot. Um, so I'm in my 19th year, um, being diagnosed with ms. Um, and then I get the looks where people are like. But how old were you when you were diagnosed?

Yeah. Um, and so I was diagnosed when I was 15. Um, I'm in my 19th year. Uh, basically what happened was the one day I woke up, uh, and my left eye had stopped moving, and so my right eye was fine. My left eye was frozen in place. Um, I hid it for my mom for about a day. My dad was away that weekend. He was out training, but I hid it from my mom that day.

And then at the dinner time, um, she noticed it. I was out for dinner with her and my grandparents and my sister, and my mom said to my grandparents, can you take Rachel home? I'm taking Jess to the hospital. And that was kind of the start of the entire journey. We went to the hospital. Um, ironically the song Double Vision by Foreigner came on as we were driving to the hospital.

Uh, and my mom was kind of like, huh. This describes you right now, doesn't it? Um, and that started my long journey and it was, it's been quite the rollercoaster from there. Uh, when we did go to the hospital that day, they actually told me I had a lazy eye. Um, they said my, my eye was tired. Um, and they said If it's not fixed by Monday, go to an eye doctor.

So, I mean, clearly I'm here. So it wasn't fixed by Monday. Sure. Uh, so then Monday I went to an eye doctor who told me that I was either diabetic or I had a brain tumor. Um, just blurted it out. 15 years old, sitting in a dark exam room. Um, and. Then we ended up going to my family doctor who got me into Sick Kids hospital in Toronto.

Um, I had an MRI within kind of two weeks, and they had said, we're 90% confident that you have ms. Okay. Um, so at 15 years old, I was sitting there with my parents. They said, we're 90% confident that you have ms. Um, but by definition, MS is multiple. So you have to have more than one incident or you have to have show that it progresses.

Um, so they said, we're gonna have you come back in three months. And we'll do another MRI and we'll just keep monitoring you unless something and see if something else happens. Um, so I went back, three months later, I had another MRI, um, and my lesions in my brain had progressed. So they were able to say, yep, a hundred percent sure you have ms.

And that started my entire journey. So for the last 19 years, I've been on four different disease modifying therapies. Um, I failed off of all four disease modifying therapies. Six years ago I underwent, uh, as part of a study, a complete stem cell transplant for my ms. Uh, so that is an autologous hemopoietic stem cell transplant, um, which was a journey in itself.

Um, the stem cell, the first part of the stem cell transplant was actually preserving my fertility. 'cause I was only 26 at the time. Okay. Um, so we were, we were like, we're gonna preserve some eggs. Um, they did say that there was a 90% chance based on the treatment that I was gonna go through, that I was gonna go into ovarian failure, menopause.

So the first step was to preserve some eggs in my fertility. Um, and then I did a single round of chemo. Which was so much fun. Um, and then I was given shots every day. They're called GCSF shots and those are designed to pull your stem cells from your bone marrow into your blood so we can harvest them easily.

So I did those shots for five days. Um, and then I went to this room, I go, went in on the fifth day and they said, your counts are high enough we can harvest. And I went into this room with this very, um. Burley tattooed man. He was also doing a harvest that day. Um, and he compared the GCSF shots for him to being shot.

Uh, he said he was in so much pain. He was in the fetal position and he was, he said to me, he's like, oh, you're such a young little girl. How did you do it? And I felt, tell, I told him, I said I ran seven K this morning. Yeah. Um, so, well, and, 

Julie Howton: and I want you to share that part with, with listeners, you, through this whole journey, fitness has been almost like an outlet for you, but you have stayed really physically active.

Jess Faulds: Yes, uh, very physically active. Like I said, that, that morning I ran seven k um, after my first round of chemo, my dad and I actually woke up the next morning and I ran 5K with him. Uh, we called it for a while, I was running on chemo. Um. I am, I am a personal trainer. I am a group fitness instructor. Uh, currently I teach anywhere from seven to 10 classes a week.

Um, and that includes me doing the workouts while I'm teaching. Um, so I was like, he described this whole weekend as being like, he's like, I was in so much pain. It was so terrible. And I got to hang out with him for the day. 'cause the harvest takes about six hours. Um, you're hooked up to a dialysis machine and they're harvesting my stem cells.

And so I gotta hang out with him for the day. And I was, he was asking me questions, um, and his experience was completely different from mine. I had a little bit of pain in my feet. I. No, I said I, I was eating well, I was working out constantly. Um, but once they did the harvest, um, then I got a break. Uh, I am allergic to what they clean you with at the hospital.

So they actually had to take the port outta my chest because I was having such an allergic reaction to when they had put it in. Um, so I got kind of like a three week break. Um, my parents then drove across the country. Uh, so that they could be with me. 'cause I live, at the time I lived 3,600 kilometers away from them.

And then it was the start of 11 rounds of chemotherapy in eight days. Wow. In 

Julie Howton: eight days. So basically they were wiping out your immune system so that you could almost just start over. 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. The goal of the chemo is to just bring you down to nothing. And my example to show like I had no white blood cell count at that point.

Um, but my example to show just how they bring you down so far. So for platelets, um, uh, they came in, I think on day two and said, you're not allowed to floss your teeth anymore. And I said, why not? Because you'll, and I said, because you'll bleed out. You'll bleed out. They said, your platelet count, they're like anything below 50 and you're not allowed to floss your teeth, your platelet counts are too low.

And I said, okay, deal. I will just brush my teeth. And then a couple days later, they came in and they said, we want to give you a blood transfusion. But we don't have your blood type. So I have a rarer blood type. They're like, we don't have your blood type. Um, so we wanna give you, I'm a negative. They're like, we wanna give you a positive, so we're gonna give you a positive with a drug that prevents any reactions from happening.

And I was like, that doesn't sound fun. So what if we didn't do that? What's the worst? And they said, well, your platelet count right now is four. Wow. So you, you don't have platelets. Yeah. So it would be very, this could be very bad for you. So I said I will take the blood. Thank you. Sounds great. 

Julie Howton: So fast forward because yeah, this is not a treatment that as far as I'm aware, and I, I did some research and, and I, I still, I don't think this treatment is available in the United States or in Canada.

Um, no. How are you doing now? 

Jess Faulds: So it is in Canada. I did my treatment in Canada. Right. But I'm saying here in the states that, you know, is, it is, but it is still a study. Gotcha. So like I was patient five in Calgary to do it. Okay. Um, the treatment did start in 2007 in Ottawa, Ontario. Um, but it's still not done.

It's a last resort. So I, like, I failed off of four treatments, so it is a last resort. Right. Well, 

Julie Howton: and, and I'm, I'm guessing part of it too is that you were so young. Yeah. The, you know, it made you a, a good candidate because Yeah. The younger 

Jess Faulds: you are when you do the stem cell, the better it works. They actually have an age cutoff.

Okay. So once you, I think, hit 40 or 50, I can't remember, you're, they just won't do it anymore. Okay. Um, because it is, and it's also because it's so, like I had to pass a lung test, a heart test. It's a, yeah. A physical, it's a physically. It is treatment. It's very physically rough. Um, but I did have the unofficial fastest recovery that my doctors have seen.

So I got my stem cells back on July 18th, um, 2019. It was a very anti-climatic moment. They just come in, they wheel them in. Um, it takes about 20 minutes. Your stem cells are back and then it's done after all that. Yeah. You're like, what? This is all that's, and it's, then it's done. Um, and since that day, so I was back in the gym within two weeks.

Um, but since that day, I have had no relapses. I've had no progression. Um, I've had symptoms that I had go, like I had before, have gone away. Um, so I still have some residual side effects, but for the most part, I am essentially living a life that is free of MS at this point. Amazing. 

Julie Howton: Amazing. They kind of dismissed you a little bit, right?

They were like, okay. 

Jess Faulds: Yeah, they have like, I don't even, so I still have specialists. Like I have my neurologist course, I see my neurologist every year. Um, what he's doing right now is he's pushing out my MRIs. So I used to have, like, when I was a kid, I would have like two MRIs a year, and then it was one MRI a year.

Um, and now I am every two years. And he said once we reach like 10 years, it'll be every three and then every five. So they're pushing out the mri. Um, but I do still have a neurologist. I don't, I'm not followed by a hematologist anymore, so I'm not followed by my stem cell doctors. I do have a hormone specialist, but other than that, it's just checkups.

It's mostly just, we're gonna check in on you. How you doing? Um. Amazing. No more. And so 

Julie Howton: what, to what do you attribute, you know, I, I threw in a little bit of my opinion there, which I sh should have done, but I can't help myself. Um, you know that a, you were able to, to manage, and some of it, as you mentioned, is age, but you were able to not only manage the treatment, um.

But you, I, I think there's such a, a tendency in today's world to, you know, look for that pill, that shot, that iv, the whatever that's going to fix autoimmunity or fill in the blank, really anything going on. Um, and, and I, I look at how you live and I look at your lifestyle. Um, so share with listeners a little bit of, of, you know, what are, what are the things that, that you attribute your success?

Jess Faulds: Yeah, so I am that person. I'm a mix of, I love the medicine, so I've always been like, what is the newest medicine? What is the newest treatment? What can I do? So I've been very aggressive on that front. But I do come from a family. My dad is an iron man. My sister's a professional triathlete. My grandfather was a fantastic athlete.

Um, so I came from a family where when I was, when I was young and I was diagnosed, my parents sat me down and they said, we don't care what you do, but you have to do something. Yeah. Um, and so I took the time to figure out what I love. I love boxing. I teach cycle three times a week. Um, I live in Calgary, so I go hiking through the mountains as many as often as I can.

Um, I do strength training, so I am someone who I am training. Um, for fitness anywhere from six to 10 times a week between what I teach and the workouts that I do for myself. Um, I also, I spent my, so when I was in university, I have a degree in health science. And then I have a degree in nutrition and dietetic sciences.

Um, and then I took my holistic, um, certification, um, because when I did my nutrition degree, it was just the Canadian food Guide mostly. Um, and I don't, and I got tired and, you know, a lot more, right? Yeah. I don't follow the Canadian Food Guide, so I got tired of justifying my diet compared to Canadian Food Diet.

But I do follow, I am, uh, basically, essentially vegan. I'm plant-based, completely plant-based. Um. And I've been very in tune listening to my body and what my body tells me it needs. Um, when I was going through the chemo, I just remember and my, I was talking to my mom about this the other day. She doesn't remember doing this.

I said, mom, do you realize that you did? I did not eat a single hospital meal when I was in the hospital. Yeah. That I would call my mom up every morning and I'd say, this is what I want. And she would make me the meal. And they were all, um, plant-based. They're all vegetarian. Um, and we were just, I was listening to my body and what I wanted and so I studied nutrition for 10 years and that was my way of healing myself.

Um, because to this day I live a very plant-based. Um, I make all our food from scratch in our house. Um, we do have a chocolate drawer that my partner loves and I, I do love my, my vegan, uh, Lins. Um, but for the most part we try to, I eat a very plant-based whole Foods diet and my, my neurologist even says, he's like, I think your recovery.

Was from your diet and your exercise. Um, and he even asked me, he's like, can I give your card to people that I'm wanting to get more plant-based? 

Julie Howton: Well, and even just, just talking to you, um, I. Mindset has so much to do with healing and wellness, and so don't, don't discount that. Part of it is that you, you know, you're positive and, and you're, you're looking.

You know, you're an active participant in your own life, which sounds silly to say, like, you know, we all should be, but, but really, I mean, your mindset, your outlook, your attitude has so much to do with. Wellness and healing and, and so I, I just want listeners to, to understand having, having the advantage of the opportunity that this is the second conversation I've gotten to have with you.

You know, I know that you're just, you're like a ray of sunshine, doesn't mean, I mean, do you ever have a bad day? Where I, 

Jess Faulds: so I did, so when I was actually going through the stem cell, um, I documented everything Uhhuh. Um, I, I had a, an Instagram that I was using at the time. I don't have the Instagram anymore, but I showed the good, so I had me like laughing in the hospital.

Yeah. I had me walking around like every morning I would wake up and I would. You're not allowed to bring the chemo around the hospital. So before they started the chemo, I would push my little IV pull and play Pokemon go with my dad outside because I was just going insane in this room. But I also showed pictures of me, like in the fetal position, crying when yeah.

Julie Howton: So attitude. Let's talk about you. You were, you, obviously not every day, especially through your journey and, and all of us humans, nobody has a great day every single day anyway. But you've been through some really hard stuff. Do you attribute any bit of your, you know, ability to overcome as as mindset, attitude, um, intention.

Jess Faulds: Yeah. Um, I, like I said, when uh, the day that I got sick and my mom and I were driving to the hospital and foreigner came on, it was double vision and my mom went, ah, this kind of describes you right now. Um, and it was such a funny moment, but it is been my entire journey through everything is. I will have bad days and during my stem cell transplant, like I actually documented it and I showed people the highs where I was like, I got the stem cells and this is happening and yay.

Um, but I also shared pictures of me, like in the fetal position, crying in the hospital or like shared the how nauseous I was going through chemo. And so I shared all the good, the bad, the ugly. Um, but for my entire life, my parents and I have always just had this mindset where like, it could always be worse.

Um, and like allow yourself to feel sad. But then when I was sad, my mom would come into the hospital and we'd have meals together. My dad would come in and we'd do dad jokes, and when I was recovering, he would take me for runs and. We would watch the Graham Norton show. 

Julie Howton: Yes. 

Jess Faulds: Laughter and, and this laugh our way through it.

And like when I was going through the stem cell, if, if something could go wrong, it would go wrong. Like I had my line blow four times. I had like an IV go at four in the morning. I'm allergic to stuff at the hospital. So I was having reaction, like, if it couldn't go wrong, it'll go wrong with me. Gotcha. Um, but you just, we kind of are just like, well, it is what it is onto the next, let's laugh through it.

Um, 'cause at one point I did a treatment and I ended up with Legionnaire's disease and in the ICU for like, yeah. Two weeks. And we're just like, my dad's just like, don't, just don't get West Nile and we'll be good. Like, it can, it will. Yeah. If it can go wrong, it will. 

Julie Howton: Well, and I, I definitely think, I remember when I first started coaching.

You know, mindset, I would get to mindset with, with my clients. I knew that was important. Um, and it, it took some experience with coaching to realize that like, oh my gosh, we have to start with mindset and then all the rest of the things, you know? Yeah. We'll just exponentially work better, faster, more powerfully.

So, um, good for you for, for just, and it sounds like you, your, your family, you were just raised that way, right? Like. 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. Yeah. Like I, like my dad is, I mean, sometimes I think he does things he probably shouldn't, but like he's pulled a hamstring during a race and he's like, I'm just gonna hobble through to the finish line and I'll still finish it and the next one will be better.

And we were just raised with that, like, stuff's gonna go wrong. Yeah. And you can't panic. And I'm walking proof of that. Like, I got MS at 15, I did enter ovarian failure, so I hit menopause at 27. Yeah. Um, and that was a journey in itself. Uh, and then I got a DI was told about my A DHD at 30 and I was like, well, does that means 

Julie Howton: it took them that long to notice?

No, I'm kidding. 

Jess Faulds: Well, it depends. So nobody, like everybody. But when I did finally meet the doctor who officially gave me the diagnosis, she's like, I can tell by the way you tell a story. I was like, I don't know what that means. But Sure. Just me. Just me. Yeah. Um, and, and then when I told people, they're like, I just figured you knew.

And I was like, right. You 

Julie Howton: were the last one to know. I was the last one to 

Jess Faulds: know. 

Julie Howton: That's, you know what, which it is fantastic, you know, so I wanna touch on. Because, and you did, you, you said something so key and there's, there's so much gold for listeners to get from, from you sharing your story. But if they get nothing else, I want everybody to, to just remember that you said.

You're in tune with your body and your body tells you what you need. So that means for those that are listening, it doesn't mean you need to go out and run seven miles every day if that's not where your fitness level is right now. Um, you know, I, I'm, I'm guessing even though exercise has always been such a big part of your life, that even with exercise, that means there's some days you should train a little more gently.

Uh. 

Jess Faulds: Sure. Yeah. Like, um, I did, so I always joke. Um, I do, I teach cycle class. I love it. And I cover for people all the time. So the one time, um, I got a little over excited and I signed up to teach four cycle classes in 36 hours. Oh, not a good idea. And by the end of it I was like, I didn't think this through because I live in a four level split, so I have to get three rows of like flights of stairs to get up to my bedroom today.

Um, but it is, uh, being so active, I am hyper aware and I try to listen to my body. So I will say after those teaching those four classes in 36 hours, I was like, I'm not gonna do anything the next day, even though it was technically I have a run day Tuesday, Thursdays, I run. Um, and I was like, I'm just not gonna run tomorrow.

I'm just gonna call it. Um, and it's the same with I, I do food. Like I truly believe, like my body craves foods based on what it's missing. Um, like this summer I got a craving for zucchini and I was like, I need more green vegetables. This is what it's telling me. Um, and so I went out and bought zucchini, but I, I'd really listened to, and especially, uh, as I was going through the chemo, um.

It was, what does my body want? Like if I'm having a craving for food, what is my body telling me that it wants to eat right now? Because it's hard to eat on chemo. 

Julie Howton: And we're talking about real, you already said it, but I'm just gonna underscore real whole foods not ultra processed crap. That is, yeah.

Addictive by nature Intention. Yeah. 

Jess Faulds: It's like, like if I'm craving Sour Patch kids, I'm like, I'm just craving sugar. This is not a healthy, right. Healthy choice. Um, but I will get, I kind of remember when I, I went to Germany when I was, uh, it was in 2016, so it was nine years ago. So I was in my mid twenties.

Um, and Jeremy was fantastic. Would love to go back a hundred percent. Absolutely love it. It would probably be a bit harder for me now 'cause I don't eat meat. Um, but while I was there, what I noticed was the German food where I was eating, it was very heavy potatoes. Yeah. Potatoes. Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.

Um, and they didn't really do salads. Like it wasn't, stuff didn't come with a salad or like vegetables. And so when I got home, my mom's like, what do you want? Like, what should we make for food? And I was like, I just want some broccoli. Yeah, I want some broccoli and some pepper. And I was like, so when I'm talking like.

There are times that I crave potatoes. There are nutrients and potatoes that you want. Um, I, but I'll be like, I really want. My Minoni soup. Yeah. And I know, I know. 

Julie Howton: Like as a win, it was such a win for me as a mother. Um, my, my daughter was a competitive equestrian through high school, and we would travel a lot and I remember the first time we got home.

Where she was like, oh my gosh, I just need more vegetables. And we ate as well as we could while we were on the road. Yeah. Um, but I was like, yes, it's working. You know? 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. My mom said her biggest win was my sister and I would come home from school and instead of reaching for like chips or like a pop, we would be like, can I have an apple?

Yeah. I'm really cr and I went to a friend's house and they're like, what would you like for a snack? I said, I just want an apple. And her mom was like. What are you okay? And they're like, you don't want, and I said, no. I'm just, I'm craving apples right now and like I have so many apples in my house right now because to this day I'll probably eat two to three a day.

Wow. My partner eats a couple of apples a day. We love apples. Um, and it is Apple season here right now, so we get some really nice, fresh Canadian apples. Um, but it's listening to my body and my body craves fruit and vegetables and like beans and lentils and whole foods. Um. My body will tell me what it is wanting.

Yeah. Uh, for sure. 

Julie Howton: Yeah. And that, and that takes for, for those listeners that are, you know, closer to the beginning of their journey, it, it does take time. I, I really do believe most of us had at least some whispers of symptoms before. We were aware, right? Yeah. Because we, we stopped listening to our body.

And so it is a skill, it takes time to tune back in and as you move toward a more whole food based diet, you know, to, to understand what, what really is the body need and what is just a craving from poor food choices. 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. Uh, they're different. They are very different and it does take time. Like it, like I said, I was, I have been on my fitness journey and my health journey for 19 years.

Um, it's been about 15 years since I started actually studying it and listening to my body. I did have those rebellion teenage years, like the first couple years I was like, I'm gonna be a normal teenager and I'm gonna eat the Cheetos. Right. Um, but I, at 19 is when I was like, okay, now I gotta like, actually we gotta take this a little seriously.

And so, um. If you go on, that's 14 years of me learning how to listen to my body. Um, which is very handy now. Uh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. But it does, it takes time. Um, especially if you're living off like a lot of processed food, now you're gonna stop that food and your body is still gonna crave it. Sure. Your body's gonna be like, I want those sour patch kids really badly.

Right. Like, 

Julie Howton: do you have tips for listeners of like how they can start, because it can be overwhelming and, and so often those of us that have been eating real food for years, you know, it's, it's, and and people are always shocked. They're like, what you used to eat? I'm like, yeah, I used. Do all the things. Um, yeah.

You know, but, but any tips for just how to start with little steps or where to start? 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. My biggest tip for when people are kind of wanting to start listening to their body and what their body is doing is actually to get a notebook. Um, and so what I always tell when I work with like nutrition clients, um, I'll tell them, I said, I want you, my rule is if you bite it, you write it.

So what? It's not tracking calories. Like I said, I don't know what the calories are, I don't care. But I want you to start being mindful of what you are putting in your body. So if you bite it, you write it, you put it down. Um, and then at the end of the day you also say, how was I feeling this today? Like, how, what did my body do?

Um, and so. Then you and you start tracking it. And sometimes what'll happen is maybe you have, and I'll say this from experience, 'cause sometimes I had a, a vegan pizza a couple weeks ago. I had this really good, delicious vegan pizza that I was just craving. And I said, you know what? Let's treat ourselves, let's get some vegan pizza.

Um, and the next day I had heartburn. And my partner was like, oh, Jess, you're almost 35, man. Like as I'm 33, he's like, this is a sign. You're over 30, you're getting your heartburn. Um, but there was something in that pizza that was probably giving me heartburn. Sure. And so I was able to say, Hey, I had this vegan pizza.

This is the pizza that I had. Um, and the next day I had heartburn and so Well, and what I love about 

Julie Howton: that is it doesn't mean that you have to choose to never have that pizza again. Yeah. But you, it's gonna be it. It's empowering, right? Then you can choose, well, what do I have tomorrow? Is it worth? The heartburn, is it worth it?

Is it worth the 

Jess Faulds: heartburn? Yeah. Um, and it's, and it's also looking at like, maybe next time I have the pizza and I don't have heartburn. So I was like, okay, what did I have with the pizza else? Like maybe there was something, and it's just being like, your body will tell you what it is feeling. Um, you just have to start really listening to your body.

So you have to, and that's why I say write it down, like, did you feel tired that day? Did you have heartburn? Did you have a hard time sleeping? Like sometimes if you, whatever you eat and then you try and go to bed, you're like, you aren't sleeping. Yeah. Um, so it's, you track that and then you can start drawing those correlations, and then you become more mindful of it as you're moving through.

Julie Howton: That's, that's such good advice and I will, I promise I will credit you, but I am definitely gonna quote the, if you bite it, you write it. Love that. If you bite it, you 

Jess Faulds: write it. 

Julie Howton: And I love that, that you, that you, you know, a added, it's not about the cal 'cause I still, depending on, I think with younger people, maybe not, um, with people my age and above.

You know, there's still this like calories, it's about the cat, and I'm like, no, it's not. Avocados. Have tons of calories. Eat as many of them as you want. Yeah. Like 

Jess Faulds: it's not about the calories. It's one of those things. It's, I always tell people, I was like, uh, I find like if you have specific weight loss goals, it is an, like, you might wanna be mindful of like what you're eating for calories, but for general health.

My body's telling me what it wants. Yeah. Um, I don't like tracking calories 'cause I feel people get really hung up on it. 

Julie Howton: Yeah. Well, and from experience I see even clients who, they think their goal, you know, their main goal for themselves is weight loss. Mine is, you know, reduced inflammation and feeling well.

Yeah. And, and when, when they're eating real whole foods, listening to their body, eating, you know, not eating things they're sensitive to on, you know, et cetera. The weight will come off anyway. It does. 

Jess Faulds: Yeah. And it's like if you're eating those whole foods, um, and you're getting something that's balanced in like fiber and protein, you're gonna, you're not gonna be the same hungry as if you were eating a bag of chips.

Yeah. Um, so it does work. It all works out in the end. Um, I will, like, if people really wanna know, like when I'm in the meal plans, I say, I can give this to you with the nutrition or without, it's your choice. Yeah. Um, but it's a lot of people, I, myself included, I find it triggering. Yeah. And also I find a lot of people don't know how to estimate the calories.

They're people either overestimate or underestimate, and it's just so, it's like if you bite it, you write it, have an idea, are you having three fruits a day? Are you having your vegetable servings per day? Like, are you eating the good things that your body needs? 

Julie Howton: Yeah. And I, I think that that's, that's so key.

And I love the, the tracking of. You know, not only what, because that is sometimes, especially a lot of my clients have food sensitivities, you know, by the time they find me. And, and I'm sure you're, same thing. Yeah. And, and those can take a day or two to po. Like it's not that same, like you said, you had har the next day from the pizza, not the, not right after eating it, right?

Yeah. So. That can be really hard to even remember. People think they're gonna remember, what did I eat two days ago? You're not, if it's written down, you know, but in a, in a way where you're holding it lightly and you're not. Again, getting triggered by tracking. It's just, um, it can be really helpful to be able to look back 

Jess Faulds: at something.

Yeah. Because it can be, it can be weeks. Like I spoke to a woman once and she was having milk every single day and she was having a lot of arthritis pain. Yeah. Um, and I spoke to her and I said, I want you to stop the milk. I said, I really like, I, I need you to stop the milk. Um, because, and she's like, well, I've never had a problem with milk in the past.

And I said, but if you're having something every single day, and it's just raising those levels just slightly, I said, it's, I need you to stop the milk. And it took a while, but we took, we cut out a couple things and then I said, it can be weeks. It can like be build up for months before you start having this reaction.

But it is that it's still a reaction. 

Julie Howton: The inflammation can be cumulative. Yeah. And so I get that all the time, but I've been eating blah, blah, blah my whole life. I've been eating milk for years. Right. I'm like, Uhhuh. Now you have autoimmune. Hmm. Yeah. I'm like, rewind. Yeah. Not picking on milk. I, I, no, my family was in the dairy business.

If I were to have milk or dairy, like cow dairy. Um. I too would end up with joint pain again. So, yeah, it's just, and it's everybody's, it's not for me. It's everybody's 

Jess Faulds: different. And it is learning. Like that's why, and sometimes I'll work with people and say, Hey, we're gonna do like an elimination diet, so we're gonna remove the main triggers, which is dairy and gluten, and maybe we'll take out nightshades, we'll take out all these foods.

And it's hard, like it is hard to do an elimination diet, but once you kind of get down to baseline, then it's like we can add some things back in. Yeah. And see which one is it that triggers you. Oh, yeah. 'cause what triggers me doesn't necessarily trigger you. Sure. 

Julie Howton: Absolutely. Well, I think of it kind of like how they took your immune system down to nail nothing.

Right? Like, you gotta clear that playing field in order to get the information when it comes to, to foods and things. What about with, with exercise? Um, for, for people that are fairly sedentary. How, where do you have people start? Because again, it's, that movement is so important. Um, yeah. Do you have any recommendations?

Jess Faulds: Um, I always tell people to start slow, um, and not compare themselves to anybody. So yeah, I went seven kilometers the morning before I did my harvest. Um, or the. Yeah, like the stem cell, the bone marrow harvest. Uh, but I also, I've worked with people and I've said, Hey, your goal is to walk to the end of your driveway today, right?

Like it is. Yeah. What is your goal? What can your, like, tell me where you're at right now. You're not doing anything. Your goal is to get out and go for a five minute walk three times a day. And then we, let's bring it up. It's 10 minutes. It's 20 minutes. Um, I even, so my, my mom is one of my favorite examples.

I teach cycle, um, at the YMCA every Saturday I volunteer and I teach cycle. And my mom comes to my class every Saturday, uh, and my mom is really learning how to listen to her body. And she is very sassy sometimes. So she was away. I can't imagine where you get that from then. So sassy, but she was away for seven weeks 'cause they went back home to Ontario and they did a drive.

And so she was away for about seven weeks and she came back recently. Um, and my class, I always end with, uh, a max wattage push. So a max wattage push is when you are on the bike on a very sticky gear and you are trying to get your wattage up as high as possible. It's one of the most difficult sessions of the cycle class.

And my mom was just in the back of the class and she was like, Nope. And so she didn't, she's like, I ain't doing that today. Yeah. And I was like, okay, that's fine. And I tell people, even when they come to my cycle class, I said, if, um, I said, I'm gonna tell you what to do. And it is up to you how, what gear you wanna put on, how hard you wanna go.

It is your workout, it's your body. So I'm gonna give you a recommendation. Um, when I first got back into boxing, after my stem cell transplant, I did every other song. So I still went to the class, but I did every other song. Yeah. Um, and it's just. Finding what is your starting point? And it is okay if that is just walking to the end of your driveway.

Yeah. 

Julie Howton: It's more, more than, okay. I have a, it's more than, okay. I have a client who lives, she lives about an hour and a half away. And when I first met her and started working with her, she wouldn't walk to her mailbox by herself. And now she's like the energizer bunny. You know it, it is amazing. So just start where you are.

And build from there. And like you said, listen to your body and I, I love you just gave everybody permission. I think a lot of people do classes because they push harder in a class. But remember if you need to modify, adjust, pause. 

Jess Faulds: Like I did a class this morning and I modified like, 'cause I went and took a class for my own person training and I said that one exercise doesn't work for me.

I'm not comfortable jumping up on that box. Not with the symptoms with MS that I've had over the 20 years. So I'm not gonna do that one. I'm gonna step up and I'm gonna modify it for myself. Love it. And it's, you just, you work with what you can do and you start with where you are. Um, and comparison is the thief of joy.

So don't ever look at anybody else and say, well, that person is doing this. I should be able to, I love that comparison 

Julie Howton: is the thief of joy. Yeah. I We're at the part where listeners, I mean, you've already given us all of this gold, um. What is this? Because listeners now, I always end with one thing that they can do starting today.

You can repeat 'cause you've already given us. But, but, or like an opportunity for you. Open opportunity. Um, one thing people can do starting today to support their healing journey. 

Jess Faulds: Eat more vegetables. Yay. I, I would just say eat more vegetables. Um, I, that's always what I start people with because vegetables are so healing and there's so many things in vegetables.

I, I always tell people, eat the rainbow. If you get different colors of veggies and fruits in every day, then you're getting all of the antioxidants and different micronutrients that you need. So eat more vegetables, um, and to be kind to themselves. 

Julie Howton: I love, uh, I love it. Both, both so amazing. And I know we tend to.

Hyperfocus on what do we need to avoid, what do we, and, and what we, what we bring in or need to bring in is, is just as important. So I love that. And there is nothing more healing than joy. So, yeah. And get a puppy. And get a puppy. Get a puppy. I'll say, this goes with the joy. 

Jess Faulds: This goes with the joy. This Nutella gets me out.

I, she goes on three walks a day. So even on the days where I'm like. Oh, do I want to? I have to. She's gotta get out there 

Julie Howton: and a puppy. Yeah. Love it. Amazing. And for people that are listening on the go and aren't gonna check the show notes, where's the best place to find you? 

Jess Faulds: Uh, so I am on, I do have just a website that's jessica fo.com.

Um, so that is the easiest way to find me at, but I do write on substack. Uh, my substack is, uh, wavelengths of Chaos and Resilience. Love it. Uh, because I am very A DHD, chaotic, but super resilient. Um, I'm also just on Instagram, just fold, uh, people, so Instagram and substack, but my website is probably the simplest, and that's where I show.

I've got meal plans that people can buy on Substack. I give free meal plans out. Nice. 

Julie Howton: Amazing. Yeah. Jess, I so appreciate everything that you shared and most especially just your inspiring journey, um, and the, just the gifts that you're bringing to the world. That ray of sunshine. 

Jess Faulds: Yes. That's what my mom, that's been my nickname for years.

Where my mom is sunshine. 

Julie Howton: Well, well suited. 

Jess Faulds: Yes. 

Julie Howton: For everyone listening. Remember, you can get those transcripts and show notes by Visiting Inspired Living Show. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.