My Journey

In 2003, at 41 years old, I went to my primary care physician for an annual checkup. She remarked my physical exam was normal and would call with my blood work results.

One week later, she reported my bloodwork was normal except for one marker, which was borderline elevated. I asked what that was and she said it was an autoimmune marker.

“Really?,” I replied, surprised. What does that mean?

“An autoimmune disease could be brewing,” she responded.

“What can I do about that?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just wait and see,” she answered.

I felt powerless to just wait and see if an autoimmune disease would develop but because I didn’t know what to do about it, I put it at the back of my mind and went on with my life.

7 years later, my health plummeted. These were my symptoms:

- Fatigue
- Wired and tired at night, battling insomnia, difficulty waking up in the morning
- Joint pain to the point my knees ached whenever I bent down
- Brain fog - I often couldn’t remember where I parked my car or put my keys
- Hives all over my face and swollen eyes for an entire year
- A frozen shoulder, with shooting pains with the slightest movement
- Hemorrhoids, which I never had before and were so excruciating I could barely sit down
- Weight loss of 20 pounds.

Needless to say, I was a mess.

I was going through a divorce after a 20 year marriage. And, I had breast implants.

I later discovered, in my training as a functional health coach, that there are 3 conditions for an autoimmune disease to develop - a genetic predisposition, a permeable or leaky gut, and a trigger.

I was experiencing lots of triggers. I had a leaky gut and stress coming from many places.

Stress from dissolving my family unit. Stress from selling my house and finding an apartment to live in with my 3 kids. Stress from working and being a single mom. Stress from my breast implants, the toxicity about which I would not learn about for another 7 years. Stress from eating foods that were not right for my body. Stress from non-restorative sleep. Stress from the wrong kind of exercise. Stress from prescription medication. Stress from many rounds of antibiotics I took as a teenager. Stress from my limiting beliefs and childhood trauma. Stress from not speaking my truth, saying yes when I wanted to say no, and trying to make everyone else happy.

I had studied health and nutrition for a long time. In 1984, I received a Bachelor’s of Science from Cornell University, having majored in Human Development and Family Studies, with a minor in Nutrition, and a Master’s in Nutritional Science from Columbia University in 1985.

I worked as a registered dietitian in Manhattan in the 1980’s, advising cardiac patients what to eat upon discharge from the hospital after a heart attack. As it turns out, advice to consume a diet high in carbohydrates, including grains, pasta, and rice and vegetable oils and avoid red meat, butter, eggs, and other sources of animal protein to support heart health, was misinformation and has contributed to the sickest population we have ever had in this country, with 60% of adults having one chronic disease and 40% having multiple chronic diseases.

I instinctively knew this advice was not going to help my patients change the trajectory of their health. I knew they were going back to their families and habits and cultural traditions. I wanted to help but felt powerless.

Up to that point, I was told good health was the result of eating healthy food and exercising. I have since learned, “healthy food” for one person can be like poison to another. And, exercise must be the Goldilocks amount - not too much and not too little but just the right kind and amount for each individual. I knew there had to be more pieces of the health puzzle than diet and exercise. I just didn’t know where to look.

I dove into functional medicine and became a certified health coach (The Institute of Integrative Nutrition) a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P.), and a Wellness Code Practitioner (TWC.)

I ran lab tests on myself as a student in the FDN program and every single one of them revealed HIDDEN dysfunction in the areas of Hormones, Immune system, Digestion, Detoxification, Energy, and Neurological systems.

This deep dive allowed me to identify the root causes of my symptoms. I got to see how stress wore my body down.

Waiting and seeing if an autoimmune disease would develop because the only tool my medical doctor had was to diagnose me once I got sick enough to fit into the category of a CPT code made no sense to me.

It does make sense to the conventional medical system, however, because once you get a diagnosis, doctors bill your insurance company and there is at least one medication your doctor will prescribe to treat that condition. Over time, you will likely need more medication because of side effects from the first medication and you will actually get sicker because the root cause of the illness was never addressed in the first place and worsens.

That hamster wheel was not for me.

I tried it for a short time. The antidepressant a psychiatrist prescribed for sleep did nothing except make me feel groggy in the morning. I weaned off of that as soon as possible.

When I discovered the path that addresses root cause(s) of illness a few years later, that is when I started to heal.

My symptoms were actually trying to help me. They were telling me to slow down, pay attention, and take better care of myself.

I learned how STRESS was taking me down.

Stress has many sources and by the time you reach your 50’s, it has accumulated and is creating havoc in the body.

Unlike a car that we service every 5,000 miles, many of us do not tune up our nutrition, body, and mindset ever! Our body is the only place we have to live. You would think we would take better care of it. But, we are not taught how.

We instinctively know how to care for others but do not attend to our own needs.

To age Gracefully, Vibrantly, and Amazingly, requires that we get a tune up and minimize stress from as many sources as possible. Our bodies are created to heal themselves when we remove toxicities and replenish deficiencies.

Our stress response activates when our body senses our life is threatened as if we are running from a tiger. The mind and body don’t care whether the threat is real or imagined, actually from a tiger, or from a negative thought, hiding your authentic self, a gut pathogen, food sensitivity, physical injury, medication, lack of restorative sleep, exercise, environmental toxin or something else. Survival is the body’s only goal.

The stress response is an asset when we can act quickly in an acute situation and then return to a calm state, as an animal does in the wild when it shakes off after escaping from a predator.

However, when stress hormones chronically pulse through our blood stream, oftentimes for decades, and sometimes unknowingly, vital body functions get put on the back burner.

These include Digestion, Energy production, Reproduction, and Immune Function.

This is when you say hello to constipation, diarrhea, bloating, pain, fatigue, blood sugar dysregulation, low libido, weight gain or loss, irritability, anxiety, depression, aches and pains, allergies, skin rashes, headaches, infections, illnesses that linger, and more.

Vibrant health is about achieving balance and alignment.

I, like you, am not an endocrine system or digestive system or immune system. All our systems work together to create our whole person.

When we are stressed, balance is thrown off, whether we realize or or not.

If you eat organic food, yet are sad or angry at the world, your stress response is activated.

If you exercise the right amount and sleep soundly, yet put your family’s needs before your own, your stress response is activated.

If you meditate daily, yet look in the mirror and tell yourself you don’t like what you see, your stress response is activated.

I began to heal myself when I looked at my physical symptoms arising from sources mental, emotional, and spiritual. The body speaks for us when we don’t allow ourselves to feel or know what to say.

Not only did I address my lifestyle habits and body’s physiology, but also my awareness, emotions, and blocks. What was I feeling? What did I want? How did I view myself? What was true? What had I suppressed and hidden from myself?

This approach was life changing. I finally understood where my symptoms came from.

I felt empowered to heal by dissolving the triggers and repairing my leaky gut and I stopped that autoimmune disease in its tracks.

I incorporated 3 critical pieces into my unique healing plan. They are Nutrition, Science and Mindset.

Nutrition - Customized foods right for my body, hydration, rest, movement, removed toxins

Science - Functional labs revealed healing opportunities, customized protocols, targeted supplements


Mindset - Increased awareness, moved stuck energy, calmed nervous system, removed blocks

These pieces interconnect and influence one another, resulting in Vibrancy when all parts are customized, balanced, and aligned.

I am happy to say that today, I feel energized, rested, pain free, comfortable with my weight, and have clear skin and a clear mind.

This is not to say my health is perfect - it is always a work in progress. Life throws its curve balls and now I have tools to get back on track. As long as I address Nutrition, Science, and Mindset, I always reset, restore balance and age vibrantly, gracefully, and amazingly!