Plantar Fasciitis vs. Plants - Who Was the Winner?
In my 30+ years of working as a physical therapist (PT), I've encountered a lot of people suffering with plantar fasciitis. For some of my patients, it was their primary reason for seeing me. For some of my patients, it was a secondary diagnosis that interfered with their recovery from other challenges.
Either way, it created REAL PAIN for my patients! And honestly, it created a REAL PAIN for me to deal with as a PT too.
You see, plantar fasciitis can be very hard to treat. I've found that it can be quite resistant to the various treatments we PT's have at our disposal. Sometimes, the pain just doesn't want to go away.
Which is why I was so surprised when one of my plant-based health coaching clients saw her plantar fasciitis COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR just a few weeks into eating a fully plant-based diet. There was no physical therapy involved and she made no other changes to her lifestyle besides what she was eating.
Amy’s Story with Plantar Fasciitis:
By the time we met, this woman had been struggling with plantar fasciitis for YEARS…with pain levels of 3-4/10 following exercise.
And then, almost like magic, and in a matter of JUST WEEKS, her stubborn plantar fasciitis just COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED.
I'm telling you – completely unexpectedly, it VANISHED!
POOF!
GONE!
She was surprised to realize that she no longer needed to limit her running and walking because of her foot pain from plantar fasciitis, as she had needed to for the past many years.
And she wasn't the only one who was surprised. As a PT who has sometimes struggled to help my patients with plantar fasciitis, I had not expected this to happen. And it was such a treat for me to be able to so easily help someone with this oftentimes-stubborn diagnosis.
PLANTAR FASCIITIS VS PLANTS – there was a clear and obvious winner in this case – PLANTS!!!
Amy Saw Some Additional Benefits Too!
This client is a busy mom of 4, in her mid-40's. She initially reached out to me with goals of losing weight and lowering her cholesterol.
And by switching to a fully plant-based diet, she accomplished both of those goals.
We worked together for 3 months, and in that short time, this client was able to LOSE 14 POUNDS and knows everything she needs to do to keep the plant-based weight loss coming, now on her own!
She also LOWERED HER CHOLESTEROL BY 55 POINTS during the first 2 ½ months of that time.
But she accomplished SO MUCH MORE than her original goals…way more than she had even hoped actually.
In addition to losing weight and significantly lowering her cholesterol…
Her MONTHLY HORMONAL SYMPTOMS greatly decreased!
Her MIGRAINES decreased in both frequency and intensity!
Her “BATHROOM HABITS” were significantly improved!
Her SLEEP drastically improved! When we started working together, she was waking up 6-8 times per night. And by the end of our time together, she was WAKING ONLY ONCE PER NIGHT!
She found that she just had SO MUCH MORE ENERGY since starting to eat plant-based, which is really important if you're a busy mom-of-4!
She was delighted to find that she was just FEELING SO MUCH BETTER OVERALL!
And her OCCASIONAL KNEE PAIN COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED, just like her PLANTAR FASCIITIS did!
Talk about some pretty great “bonus” accomplishments!
But enough from me. I'll let her tell you about her experience:
In Amy’s Own Words…
“I’m floored by the results of doing something as simple as changing what I eat! My biggest motivator for trying this way of eating is that I had tried everything else I could possibly do (losing weight, exercise, supplements) short of starting on medication, in order to manage my cholesterol. By eating plant-based, I was able to drop my cholesterol 55 points; I'm now in the normal range, in just over 2 months.
My sleep is much better, my joints feel better, and the plantar fasciitis (which I had been experiencing for the last several years) is completely gone! I lost 14 pounds and I really feel years younger.
Michele was ridiculously flexible and helpful. She encouraged me when things got tough. I’m a busy mom of 4, and taking time and energy for myself can sometimes be a challenge. There was a point about 6 weeks into this experience where, due to some personal circumstances, I was really tired and overwhelmed and feeling defeated. Having a coach to come alongside me during that time was invaluable! Michele reminded me of past successes, helped me to problem-solve about some of the difficulties I was facing, and kept me going on the journey. I'm thankful that I had that experience, because the ups and downs have helped me to really decide that this is the way I want to live from here on out!” ~Amy
And Now Back to Me…
When I started my plant-based health coaching career, I had no idea that plant-based eating could have such a PROFOUND effect on people's pain! That has honestly been the most surprising part of this whole journey for me.
And I couldn't be happier.
When I made this career change and opened my plant-based health coaching practice, I didn't think I was going to be able to help people decrease their pain any more – which made me sad, because that was something that I had always enjoyed doing as a PT.
But what I've learned is that I still get to help people decrease their pain in significant and sometimes life-changing ways – only now I get to do so, just by helping them change what they put on the ends of their forks.
What a privilege it is for me to help people create life-changing results like that in their bodies and in their lives!
So can a plant-based diet help reduce YOUR pain?
Or lower your cholesterol?
Or decrease the number on your scale?
Or help you with your “bathroom habits"?
Or balance out your hormones?
Or reverse your diabetes?
Or lower your blood pressure?
Or decrease the symptoms of your autoimmune disease?
Or improve your sleep?
Or give you more energy?
There's only one way to find out.
Give it a try.
Otherwise, you'll never know.
Amy had no idea that a plant-based diet was going to make her plantar fasciitis COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR - until she gave it a try.
I recently heard this quote, originally from a man named Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and I think it’s absolutely true. He said that “DOUBT can only be removed by ACTION."
Read that again.
“DOUBT can only be removed by ACTION."
If you're DOUBTING that a plant-based diet can work for you, there's only one way to know for sure - to take ACTION. Otherwise, you'll never know, will you?
If you know how to get started with a plant-based diet, then you're all set. Just give it a try.
But if you DON'T know how to get started with a plant-based diet, if you don't know what to eat, or where to shop, or where to find good-tasting recipes, or how to make plant-based eating fit into your lifestyle, then I CAN HELP YOU!