{"id":7959,"date":"2022-05-10T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fxnutrition.com\/?p=7959"},"modified":"2025-08-28T14:13:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T14:13:41","slug":"becoming-a-holistic-practitioner-utilizing-the-food-mood-poop-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fxnutrition.com\/blog\/becoming-a-holistic-practitioner-utilizing-the-food-mood-poop-journal","title":{"rendered":"A Sneak Peak into Becoming a Holistic Practitioner: Utilizing the Food-Mood-Poop Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understanding the role of data collection in your Functional Nutrition or holistic health practice<\/span><\/h2>\n

As a Functional Nutrition Counselor (or any holistic practitioner), utilizing the Food-Mood-Poop Journal can enhance your ability to provide comprehensive care. This journal serves as a valuable tool for collecting client data, enabling you to observe patterns and connections between food intake, signs and symptoms, and elimination. With it, you\u2019ll obtain the insights you need to guide recommendations and help your clients reach their goals. Let’s explore the significance of the Food-Mood-Poop Journal in becoming a holistic practitioner.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Food-Mood-Poop Journal:<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a> serves as your #1 tool for collecting data.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Functional Medicine Nutritionist, I\u2019ll admit that I <\/span>love<\/span><\/i> data. It provides clues to help direct our care. And data, when seen as a clue and not a determinant, is most revealing when we\u2019re able to step back and understand the story that it\u2019s illuminating. So, what does poop data actually tell you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the food-poop connection<\/span><\/h3>\n

While poop provides some great clues, poop data alone is more relevant when we gather input on food intake as well. That\u2019s why the Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a> is your first step in clinical data capture. As a practitioner, it allows you to slow down, pay attention, and connect the dots \u2013 helping you to determine which patterns are serving your client and which might be getting in the way of their health or healing goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to use the Food-Mood-Poop Journal for holistic assessment<\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t mention that there are some clients for whom a Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a> is not a great first step, and may serve as more of a trigger than a tool. You will know this based on their history or their response to your request to track.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Food-Mood-Poop Journal is a good fit, we sometimes, ask clients to complete it in its entirety for 3-5 days. Other times, we ask them to concentrate on a single point of focus. For instance, we may ask them just to gather food, or recount the timing and quality of their daily poops.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we focus on the <\/span>Food<\/span><\/i> portion of that three part Food-Mood-Poop equation, we never judge, count calories, or measure. In any case of single focus, we simply ask our clients to capture information without interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\n

That means we\u2019re looking for:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smoothie (water, blueberries, parsley, lemon, lemon zest, ginger, Brazil nuts, stevia, ice) <\/strong>vs. 12 oz smoothie (10 oz water, \u00bd cup blueberries, \u00bc cup parsley, etc.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

OR<\/span><\/p>\n

Oatmeal with ground flax, cinnamon, walnuts, oat milk <\/strong>vs. \u00bd cup cooked oatmeal with 1 Tbsp. flax, \u00bc tsp. cinnamon, etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Food,<\/p>\n

When looking from a Functional Nutrition perspective, we do <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> want to invite self-criticism or analysis around food or choices. We <\/span>do<\/span><\/i> want to have a starting point for discussion and self-awareness while assessing what comes in and what goes out. This exchange allows us to step out of our assumptions and develop real<\/span> rapport with our clients<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surveying the Food section with your client<\/span><\/h3>\n

After the discretionary capture of food listed on the Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a>, we might go back and ask our client to take two more actions (or we can do this with them in session):<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Circle the meals that included Fat, Fiber & Protein (one of our favorite ways of inviting balanced blood sugar through our meals).<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Highlight different colored foods eaten, using some colorful markers, both celebrating the anti-inflammatory rainbow of foods consumed and capturing which color foods we might be regularly missing in our daily diet. <\/span>For me it can often be the blue foods!<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The importance of poop journaling<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Now we\u2019re ready to talk Poop.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I realize this isn\u2019t a pleasant topic, yet it\u2019s one that comes up a lot in our practice at the Functional Nutrition Alliance Clinic. Poop is a topic that should be discussed often in any Functional Nutrition or holistic health practice. That\u2019s because poop is an indicator of overall health and it\u2019s an important area of focus for functionally restoring body balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In fact, I like to remind clients that taking a peek at the poop left behind in the bowl is one of our best diagnostic tools! Your poop has something to tell you.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Yes, the kids giggle. I had the chance to teach 7th graders on the topic of digestion early in my career and boy does the topic of poop make them uncomfortable<\/i>! The adults try to hide their unease, or they worry that it\u2019s \u201cTMI\u201d. Ultimately we all get over it so we can discuss the down and dirty details without discomfort.<\/p>\n

    Understanding gut health<\/span><\/h3>\n

    As you likely know, the digestive system starts with the thought of food before it\u2019s even consumed. It ends with the elimination of waste. \u201cTop to bottom\u201d as we like to say.<\/span><\/p>\n

    As we move into the Poop column of the Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a>, we turn our attention to relatable discussions about digestion, particularly the role of the large intestine, where poop is produced, and the signs of health that we leave behind in the toilet each day.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This biology education invites folks to develop a new diagnostic appreciation of their poop.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Function of the colon<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The large intestine, or colon, is one of the body\u2019s major channels of removal and detoxification. The colon has a significant role in digestion and in a person\u2019s overall ability to thrive. Its essential function is often grossly overlooked, despite the fact that a person\u2019s poop patterns can tell us a lot about where to focus our attention in a holistic health practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

    From the perspective of digestion, the colon is the last place for the body to absorb water and vital minerals and vitamins. A healthy large intestine is well-populated with friendly bacteria that act as gatekeepers. Those microbes in the colon have two important functions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. They allow important vitamins and nutrients (particularly vitamin K and B vitamins \u2014 to support the bones and brain, among other things) to pass into the bloodstream.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. They usher toxins and other unneeded rubbish toward excretion.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      An unhealthy colon without bacterial diversity or balance is not as well equipped to do this careful sifting.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Signs of colon imbalances<\/span><\/h3>\n

      While we tend to focus on what we put <\/span>into<\/span><\/i> our body rather than what comes <\/span>out <\/span><\/i>of it, the two processes are intimately related. The elimination of undigested particles and other elements that we take in through our food, water, and environment are just as important as the digestion and assimilation of our meals. Failure to excavate toxic wastes causes some obvious health challenges as well as some that you might not otherwise connect to the health of your colon or the quality of your poop. That\u2019s why we use the Food-Mood-Poop Journal<\/a> to look at what\u2019s coming in alongside what\u2019s coming out!<\/span><\/p>\n

      Some obvious signs of a colon in need of support or repair include:<\/span><\/p>\n