Wanting to take her own health into her hands, Bonnie Wisener went back to school, leading her towards her thriving therapeutic nutrition path. With a focus on digestive health, she has helped several clients as well as given back to the CSNN community as an instructor.
When it comes to nutrition and lifestyle habits that support optimized health a fundamental belief in small, sustainable changes are what fuels Bonnie Wisener, R.H.N.
“In my practice, Shift Nutrition and Wellness, I help women who struggle with daily bloating, constipation, gas and pain resolve their symptoms and regain control of their lives. I assist them in acquiring the information and tools they need to achieve optimal digestive function.”
Bonnie has been practicing for about 9 years, and though she is based in Ontario she works with clients around the world. During her time in practice Bonnie has developed a signature process, called the Shift Your Gut Therapy Method and she is proud that 80% of all participants in the program achieve success.
One of the many career highlights that comes to mind for Bonnie is in the form of a lesson she learned from a client. She was working with an 89-year-old retired nurse, helping her resolve chronic and urgent diarrhea.
Bonnie says her client was dependent on supplemental fibre at the time they met, and she wasn’t eating a well-balanced diet because so many foods seemed to cause upset. She was deprived of energy, and eager to resolve her issues and return to her relatively active life.
“[Through our work together] she was remarkably successful. Her sense of motivation was inspiring, and taught me that we are never too old to learn how to do things differently, or how to support our body optimally.”
Some of the most important things Bonnie has learned through her journey as a wellness practitioner is that “extremes don’t work for most people; managing the physiological impact of stress is paramount; and further, our education is only the beginning – I continue to learn through my daily experiences with clients.”
On a personal level, it has afforded me independence via self employment, and on a professional level, there is really nothing more gratifying than hearing your client say “you have changed my life”. Many of us hear this from our clients a lot of the time. How special and lucky are we to be in that position.
“For as long as I can remember I had “stomach problems”. That meant that I was constantly checking what I was eating, afraid to go out with friends and all around did not feel comfortable. I tried FODMAP, lactose free, restoralax, and just about anything you can think of to get my stomach in a better state. I met with Bonnie when my stomach was at its worse and she could not have been more helpful. She taught me that food is only one component of changing your body and how my stomach responds to food and gave me the tools so that even after our time together, I feel confident that if I ever get into a snag, I have the tools to put me back on the right track. Bonnie made sure I understood why we were changing things to my diet and lifestyle, and coming from a science background, the education Bonnie gave me made me even more motivated to follow her guidelines. I have nothing but amazing things to say about Bonnie and how much she changed my life.”
We’ve featured Bonnie’s writing and recipes on the CSNN website:
