Why Work with a Health Practitioner?
As an FDN-P, my goal is to guide your on your health journey. There are several key aspects to keep in mind during this process.
You must ask yourself…
IS MY DIET RIGHT FOR MY BODY, MY HEALTH?
Remember, the food you eat is your most powerful drug. You “medicate” yourself 3 times a day with the diet you choose. You are either fortifying your body or weakening it. To put it bluntly, food is our medicine or our poison.
“One person’s medicine may be another person’s poison.” Donald Karshner
Since food directly impacts all metabolic processes, choosing wisely is a pretty big deal.
After my breast implant explant, I discovered foods such as organic chicken, almonds, lemon, pepper, sweet potatoes, broccoli, celery, dates, chickpeas, green peas, spinach, lentils and mushrooms were triggering inflammation in my body.
It was mind boggling. I thought I was making healthy choices. But when the gut is permeable with leaky gut, the foods you eat most frequently are usually the ones creating inflammation. They are not getting broken down properly, end up in the bloodstream, and the body mounts an attack in the form of antibodies and widespread inflammation.
As part of my healing protocol, I eliminated these foods while I worked to rebuild my gut, balance hormones and detoxify my liver. I am happy to report I have added back those foods and they no longer are causing an inflammatory response.
For many people, it is possible to add many previously inflammatory foods back into their diets once the gut is healed. Functional lab tests help us determine leaky gut and also food sensitivities.
Genetics also dictate how you respond to food. One person might function best eating meals higher in protein and fat than carbohydrates. Someone else might do better with a higher percentage of carbohydrates. Depending on your metabolic type, a person might feel and function better with dark meat chicken rather than white meat. This is why it is so important to look at each person as an individual and tailor their food plan to what works best for them at any given time.
As an FDN-P, I look at where you are on your health journey and we make shifts accordingly. At home functional lab tests guide the protocol we work on together.
Read more: Determining what foods are right for your body and health here.
AM I GETTING ENOUGH REST?
When the body is on high alert, resting is not a priority. Its drive is to survive in a stressful environment.
You must learn how to rest well to restore the body. Many insults to the body, such as hormonal changes, poor digestive function and pathogens, which enter the body opportunistically, contribute to abnormal circadian rhythms and sleep hygiene.
When sleep is messed up, one cannot clear the daily toxins the body accumulates. Think of sleep as necessary to empty the trash and start the next day with a clean basket.
It is important you support your body with lifestyle changes so you can get adequate sleep. It matters what time you go to bed and how many hours you sleep. This is especially true when recovering from the stress of surgery and recovery.
WHAT TYPE AND HOW FREQUENT SHOULD I EXERCISE?
It is important to move the body daily, not only for cardiovascular health and muscle strength, but also to remove toxins. Sweating helps achieve this.
However, start slow and listen to what your body is telling you it can handle. Build from there. Intense exercise in the months following surgery is considered over exercising and will tax the already tired adrenal glands.
You may gradually increase your workouts as you feel better and your body can handle more exertion. Walking, yoga, and swimming are great exercises for healing after surgery.
In addition, connecting with nature and being outside does wonders for the body, not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually. Grounding, touching the ground/grass/sandy beach with your feet or other body parts, helps eliminate inflammation.
Regarding my own journey, I was back at the gym 2 months post surgery. Light cardio. At 3 months I resumed TRX classes . Modified my workouts. Not too much heavy lifting or stretching arms over head or supporting body weight.
I also enjoy walking on the beach barefoot. I ground and exercise at the same time. It clears my mind and nourishes my soul. The beach is my happy place. You need to listen to your body and determine what feels best for you.
HOW CAN I REDUCE STRESS?
Make it stand out
It is important to reduce stress in all these areas: emotional, physical and spiritual. Did you know emotional stress manifests in the physical body as illness?
Physical stress can be addressed by seeing a chiropractor, an acupuncturist or a masseuse. As an FDN-P, I encourage mindset work around your body shape, rediscovering you and processing emotions.
Additional ways you can reduce stress include:
Meditation.
Journaling.
EFT (emotional freedom technique.)
Breathe work.
Counseling.
Walking in nature.
Meeting a friend.
WHAT SUPPLEMENTS WILL HELP WITH MY HEALTH JOURNEY?
I recommend an herbal supplement protocol to nourish the body with nutrients where it is deficient or unable to make on its own. This is an individual approach and functional lab tests guide areas that need support.
When we work together, we focus on supporting the gut, hormones, immune system, adrenal glands, cell integrity, pathogen eradication, liver detoxification and more.
TEST, DO NOT GUESS
As a health practitoner, I recommend beginning any health changes with functional lab work. It will help you identify where you are starting on the toxicity spectrum and also help you monitor progress.
During my own journey, all of the lab tests I took initially revealed dysfunction. I will admit, I felt pretty deflated as I thought I was making “healthy” choices already.
But I was grateful the test results provided me with clues to map out a plan.
These are the 3 areas of focus I address when working with a client on a health rebuilding program:
Discover what foods are right for your body to function at its potential. Gut permeability and inflammation often bring food sensitivities, either overt or hidden. Inflammation continues if reactive foods are not eliminated. Some foods may be reintroduced once the gut is healed. Your genetic makeup also determines the best ratios of the macronutrients carbohydrates, protein, and fat that nourish you best. We explore all these factors to determine the best meals for you.
Run functional lab tests to discover hidden healing opportunities in the hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy and neurological systems. The results of functional at home lab tests usually correlate with health symptoms and complaints. When I see clients with lab results out of the range where people feel their best and function optimally, I think this is solid evidence their bodies need attention, care, and healing.
Teach a model of self-care in which you gain the freedom to dictate your own health to its highest potential and don’t need me anymore.
When the protocol is implemented, you can reasonably expect your unwanted health condition(s) to improve, or even go away completely,