Ever feel like you’ve tried everything under the sun to feel better or lose weight or gain back your energy and NOTHING seems to work? Or what used to work seems to now do the opposite?
- You’ve seen different healthcare providers.
- You’ve bought all the supplements on Instagram.
- You’ve done all the workout challenges.
- You’ve been told that “everything is fine” despite CLEARLY not feeling fine.
I’ve personally been here and it’s what led me to become a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and finally help myself and others dig deep into the depths of their health to determine what is causing their issues and not just mask the symptoms.
The Health Tree Analogy
Think about it for a second- if you noticed a leaf was starting to wither on a tree (aka needs watering), would you just put water on the leaf OR would you give the water to the roots, while not visible, are where you know the dehydration issue started from?
Here’s a similar example for you:
Person A isn’t feeling right. They decide to go to the doctor because they can’t lose weight and they believe their thyroid is “off.” Doc gives them medication to support the thyroid and they go off on their way. A few weeks/months/years later, they still can’t seem to lose weight, still have chronic fatigue and don’t feel like their sleep is as good as it used to be. Will more thyroid medication help? Probably not, as it may not have been needed in the first place as the root issue is likely deeper and probably a bit more complicated than that.
What are you Watering?
Most symptoms we face today are leaves/branches (weight gain, slow metabolism, acne, skin issues, hormone issues, infertility, fatigue, etc.) and simply treating the leaves/branches is not going to fix the deeper issues existing in the roots.
- You can put acne cream on your face but if you don’t fix your inner “root system” it will come back.
- You can do an extreme diet for a while, but if you don’t figure out why your body was holding onto weight to start, you WILL gain it back.
- If you give thyroid medication to your thyroid without investigating what could be causing thyroid issues, you’re probably going to need to increase your dose as time goes on and be dependent on medication for life.
- If you take pain medication every time you have your period to mask the painful cramps, the cramps aren’t going to go away because you haven’t fixed WHY you have painful periods in the first place.
In the process of healing, it takes getting real with yourself on a lot of levels about what is working for your life and what you have been doing (sometimes for decades) that has gotten you to this point of sickness. I think the best term is “ownership”– you learn to own what you can and can’t control in your world and begin to chip away at the list of what you CAN control.
The Optimal Health Math Equation
With my clients, we take it back to grade school math: identify the problem, subtraction and then addition.
- IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM: Use functional lab testing + optimal ranges to discover what could be impacting your health.
- SUBTRACT THE TRIGGERS + TOXINS: You can never fully drain a tub if you never turn the water off. Need to remove toxins + aggressors before trying to fix your body.
- ADD-IN SUPPORT + NUTRIENTS: Use food, supplementation and lifestyle change to add-in nourishment for the body and mind and any support you need to keep stress at bay.
Ready to Dig Deeper?
If this has resonated with you and you’d like to do a deep dive into your health and lifestyle, check out some of my offerings and how I work here and when you’re ready, book a free discovery call to discuss your health goals and trials and see if we’re a good fit!