Functional Medicine saved my life. Before I found functional medicine, I spent years feeling tired, boated, cranky, and just plain crappy. As a physical therapist, I have been really healthy and active my whole life, but when I hit my late 30s something changed. I was stressed and the definition of “wired and tired”. I was doing too much and really burning myself out. I over-exercised and ended up gaining weight instead of losing or maintaining; my gut was a bloated mess no matter what I ate; I was anxious; and I was in some sort of pain constantly.
At first, I turned to traditional medicine and was diagnosed with everything from early menopause to a bacterial infection. I was prescribed nine different antibiotics or steroids in 18 months, mostly for assumed respiratory issues. The antibiotics and steroids triggered all sorts of terrible side effects making the “cure” worse than the disease.
But the worst part is that I never felt heard. All these specialists and doctors spent about 10 minutes with me and then sent me for labs or gave me a prescription and a follow up appointment in six weeks. No one took time to look at me as a whole person, they were only interested in treating the symptoms.
As a practicing Functional Medicine health coach now, I know that we have to back up and look at the whole body as a system vs. individual pieces (e.g. just the knee). Body + rest and recovery + right foods = whole system.
Through a colleague, I found a functional medicine health coach who took the time to listen to me and get to the root of my issues, not just treat the individual symptoms. For me, my immune system was out of balance and needed to be reset. My functional medicine coach put me on a stricter diet to heal my gut and created a specialized combination of supplements for my individual needs. Additionally, they culled my over-exercising habit because my routine was overstimulating my fight or flight response. When we are in fight or flight it is physically impossible for our bodies to heal. By resting and recovering, I was able to reestablish balance in my body and my pain went away.
After my experience, I knew I needed to incorporate functional medicine into my practice. I received my certification in Functional Medicine Health Coaching from the Institute for Functional Medicine under the direction of Dr. Daniel Kalish, and I went on to become a Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach (CTNC) by the Institute of Transformational Nutrition. As a CTNC, I am able to evaluate the nutrition of my functional medicine clients as well as help them incorporate lifestyle changes that include stresses: physical, environmental and emotional.
My story is why I am so passionate about my 16-week program and why I get great results for clients. I have been where you are. I know how you feel, but more importantly, I know how to make you feel better! So what are you waiting for? Let’s look at the whole you, together.
