The Dr. Shannon Show

Episode: Coffee Chat with Miranda Galati: Weight Watchers, Digestive Health, Evlo, and More

Host: Dr. Shannon Ritchey, PT, DPT
Guest: Miranda Galati, Registered Dietitian
Date: December 9, 2024

Episode Overview

In this candid and insightful coffee chat, Dr. Shannon Ritchey sits down with registered dietitian Miranda Galati to discuss Miranda’s unconventional journey from marketing to nutrition, her personal battles with weight and digestive health, and her experience as both a beginner-turned-fan in exercise and evidence-based nutrition. The episode explores the mental and emotional shifts required for lasting health, with special attention to the pitfalls of restriction, the realities of body changes, and the practicalities of starting (and sustaining) an exercise routine using Evlo Fitness. The conversation mixes personal anecdotes, research-based insights, and plenty of humor and relatability.

Key Topics and Discussion Points

1. Miranda’s Career Shift: From Marketing to Dietetics

• Miranda previously worked in marketing at Deloitte before switching careers to become a registered dietitian.
• Her journey was unplanned; she became an "accidental entrepreneur" when her Instagram account took off during her studies.
• Quote:

  "Basically what happened is when I went back to school to become a dietitian, I started an Instagram account that kind of took off. ...by the time I graduated and got my RD credential, I had that as an option and just kind of leaned into it." — Miranda (02:26)

2. Growing an Online Presence in Nutrition

• Miranda’s social media growth was gradual—a “slow burn” rather than going viral.
• She contrasts her experience with others who achieved overnight fame via viral content.
• Both Dr. Shannon and Miranda take a non-sensational approach, focusing on trustworthy and non-clickbaity information.
• Quote:

  "It's not clickbaity. ...And a lot of times that doesn't go viral." — Dr. Shannon (05:00)

3. Personal Story: Weight, Body Image, and Dieting

• Miranda discusses her childhood body image issues and how weight insecurity rooted early behaviors and mindsets.
• She describes her experience with Weight Watchers in university, losing weight quickly but developing a restrictive mindset and digestive issues.
• She received a diagnosis of IBS, leading to trials with a restrictive low FODMAP diet, but without relief.
• Eventual discovery and treatment for SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) marked a turning point.
• Quote:

  "So, on the one hand, Weight Watchers...was quite a restrictive diet...it really changed my mindset about food to be much, much more restrictive. And then at the same time...I started developing all these unknown digestive symptoms..." — Miranda (07:13)

4. Insights on Under-Eating, Digestive Health, and Recovery

• Miranda connects her under-eating and restrictive diet to her later digestive problems, highlighting a common but under-discussed link.
• She emphasizes that sufficient caloric intake and food volume are essential for digestive health.
• The successful treatment of SIBO with antibiotics coincided with a shift to a more balanced diet, resolving her symptoms.
• Quote:

  "You need enough calories for your body to want to put energy towards your digestive function, and you need enough volume of food to move things through. ... I think it was my under-eating that drove it." — Miranda (11:15)

5. The Psychological Impact of Weight Change

• Miranda opens up about the emotional challenges of gaining weight after restrictive dieting, and the eventual realization that a bit of weight gain was not catastrophic and actually empowering.
• She advocates for de-emphasizing strict goals in favor of well-being, noting that the fear of weight gain is often worse than the reality.
• Dr. Shannon relates her own postpartum body changes and the freedom found in accepting flux in body composition.
• Quotes:

  "For me, like, when I gained, I gained like a little bit of weight postpartum…my body composition did change…And for me it was just like, I don't see this as permanent…I'm just not worried about it." — Dr. Shannon (15:57)
  "Caring less about how my body looks is the best thing that's ever happened to me." — Miranda (16:50)

6. Current Wellness Goals & Tracking for Protein

• Miranda now focuses on muscle building and body recomposition, prioritizing strength and function over relentless fat loss.
• She admits to occasionally tracking her food intake—especially protein—to better align with her muscle-building goals, noting that even professionals need basics and reminders.
• Quote:

  "It's funny, too, because one thing that's shown consistently is in research is regardless of education, we do a bad job of estimating our intake." — Miranda (20:58)

7. Evolution in Exercise: From Sedentary to Strength Training

• Miranda candidly recounts being a “sedentary child” who avoided sports, and how she gradually eased into exercise through yoga, barre, spin—and finally, strength training.
• She highlights the importance of starting slow, individualized adaptation, and removing perfectionism from fitness routines.
• Both hosts acknowledge that exercise is not always "joyful" and that consistency is often about doing what you hate least.
• Quotes:

  "For a long time, it was yoga and then bar classes and then peloton for a couple years, and that was great. ...It took me, like, literally a decade to get here to just wire, like, exercise as a part of my life." — Miranda (22:42 / 23:11)
  "I'm so passionate about Evolo because it's such a lower barrier to entry..." — Dr. Shannon (23:43)

8. Starting with Evlo & Easing into Strength

• Miranda describes her initial struggles with Evlo Fitness, dealing with excessive soreness.
• The breakthrough came when she permitted herself to do shorter, easier versions of the workouts before building up to full classes.
• The process required “a mindset shift”—ignoring external judgments and focusing on personal progress.
• Quotes:

  "Strength training has always been the most intimidating type of exercise...my recovery consistently was so tough...my soreness was my limiting factor...actually what eventually led me to being able to be consistent with Evolo is kind of treating myself like I would a client...What I did was I took the circuit tab and I just would do a round of the circuit or two, and I would end when I felt enough. And literally, it was only, like, a couple weeks of that that I needed to be able to go into the full classes. It was like magic." — Miranda (25:31 / 27:17)
  "Nobody knows if I took a full class or not. ...I still had so much, like, embarrassment over the idea of, like, not taking a full class that it took me so, like, so long to even, like, think about...just not taking a full class for a while." — Miranda (27:44)

9. Final Advice on Digestive Health

• For listeners with persistent digestive troubles and normal test results, Miranda urges evaluating food intake—especially under-fueling—as a potential cause.
• Quote:

  "If you're having digestive troubles and you've gone to the doctor and your testing's coming back normal, consider your fueling and consider if you're getting enough." — Miranda (31:05)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the slow burn of social media growth:

  "It's a slow burn. Yeah. Oh, I'm still open to exploding like that." — Miranda (04:47)

• On dismantling restriction and fear:

  "It was the scariest thing to me after losing weight, to gain weight back, it was terrifying. And then when it happened, it was not a big deal." — Miranda (14:22)

• On exercise consistency:

  "Find the thing you hate the least." — Miranda (24:40)

• On beginner intimidation in fitness:

  "Even though one dosage of strength training might feel completely, like, fine for somebody else, for somebody that's newer to it, they might have a harder time recovering because ... those neural pathways aren't formed yet." — Dr. Shannon (29:24)

Key Timestamps

• 01:02: Miranda’s career background and switch to nutrition
• 03:46: Miranda’s social media journey and content evolution
• 05:19: Miranda’s body image and early relationship with food
• 07:13: The Weight Watchers experience and its unintended consequences
• 09:54: The low FODMAP diet, SIBO diagnosis, and the dietary “lightbulb” moment
• 13:46: Advice for listeners afraid to let go of restriction
• 16:50: Discussing changes in body image and wellness goals
• 18:51: Miranda’s current muscle-building approach
• 21:22: How Miranda found consistency (and self-compassion) with exercise
• 25:31: Her honest story of starting with Evlo Fitness and learning to scale workouts
• 31:05: Crucial advice on digestive issues and under-fueling

Resources & Where to Find Miranda

• Instagram & TikTok: @reallifenutritionist
• Website & Easy Recipes: reallifenutritionist.com
• Contact: Email via website

Summary

This episode offers a deeply relatable narrative about health journeys that rarely follow a straight line. Miranda’s honest account of restrictive dieting, her hard-earned lessons about digestive health, her struggles and triumphs with exercise, and the mental shifts required to prioritize true well-being make this coffee chat essential listening for anyone seeking sustainable change. Both Dr. Shannon and Miranda model vulnerability, practical wisdom, and a science-based, non-judgmental approach to nutrition and fitness. If you’re looking to improve your relationship with food, movement, or your body, this episode provides permission to start slow, embrace imperfection, and keep going.