Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, FDN-P
Nutritional Therapist, NTP
My skin and gut were TERRIBLE and my energy and anxiety were getting worse and worse!...it had been terrible for YEARS and when I didn’t think it could get worse it did! I was spending an insane amount of money on skincare products and numerous other products and services to make me feel better, on top of taking medications my doctor would prescribe me, which only made things worse. I was really starting to lose it. I felt like I was losing the battle which created more stress and anxiety and I was YOUNG, in my early twenties. Something had to give.
I reached a point where I felt cursed and completely defeated. Nothing that I had known and tried at this point worked and things were still declining, and it felt like it was impacting every part of my life. I realized how much my physical symptoms (fatigue, stomach, and skin issues) were affecting my mental health, which DOES effect many if not all aspects of anyone’s life.
Just some of my symptoms were weight gain which turned out to mainly be inflammation, bloating, skin issues, a long list of food sensitivities and intolerances, MAJOR fatigue, which was followed with times of anxiety, and depression.
I was extremely frustrated and could not help but feel cursed.
I was also extremely anxious about everything and how my symptoms were holding me back from living a happy life. Not until looking back did I see how much it was negatively affecting my relationships with family, friends, and boyfriend. But it also increased my stress at work, my home life, and my social life.
I had always eaten whatever I wanted. I was a picky eater growing up, meaning I refused to eat anything “healthy” and my pediatrician would just tell my parents just feed her whatever she will eat. So, they did. Doctors’ orders. I was always on the smaller side so I never gained much weight when I was younger so my whole life I grew up thinking I could get away with eating however I wanted. My later years of high school were when my symptoms started. No clue with any correlation of my diet so I continued my unhealthy lifestyle. I had regular appointments with my doctor, and I was always just prescribed something for whatever. Symptoms started to escalate quickly but even though I was an adult and on my own I was still young and didn’t have a lot of resources on health so I never made the dietary and mental health connection with my gut, skin, brain symptoms.
My lifestyle of eating whatever I wanted and not being consciously active and fit was such a comfort zone for me because that was ALL I knew, plus my symptoms made me feel depressed at times which left no motivation to try to make changes especially when no one could tell me they would help. Even once I started getting curious about my diet being connected to all these things, I mentioned it to my doctor and she even told me it WASN’T connected and sent me with another prescription and referral to a dermatologist.
What I did have was the internet, and I googled my heart out about skin health and its connection to the gut and its connection to diet and then its connection to the brain.
Even though dr. google was never going to teach me everything I needed to know, it opened my mind to nutrition and its impact on digestion and how it was connected to so much.
I learned just enough to realize I needed to eat healthier, stop eating so much processed foods, processed dairy and sugar, and get active!
Once I started to notice an ease in symptoms I was hooked. I knew right then that I was determined and willing to change whatever I needed to, invest in whatever was necessary, and educate myself on whatever I could to feel my best. The best part was that I had hope again!
I changed my diet COMPLETELY, started exercising, and signed up to be a Nutritional Therapist because I was so committed to helping myself and at that point helping literally ANYONE else that wanted it. My quality of life continued to increase but there had always remained room for more healing, which then lead me to becoming a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and adding in a layer of functional lab testing to the process.
I had HOPE and I had RESULTS! This led me to have even more determination to help other people with both those as well! HOPE AND RESULTS!
The following were the high level steps I HAD to take to finally see results:
Immediately I noticed changes for the better, but after gathering all the data driven information from lab testing and improving my therapeutic supplement protocol and having my diet dialed in, SUSTAINABLE healing finally came and I was finally experiencing a complete reversal of my ALL my symptoms.
I am not a victim of my circumstance and my symptoms. I have the capacity to empower myself to do the learning and the work that goes with it to heal. The money always comes and goes but you learn to NEVER cheap out of your health. You just hope you learn sooner than later.
NOW I feel consistent joy with life. I feel empowered to change things that don’t serve me and take responsibility and control of MY LIFE.
Going from feeling hopeless and cursed, to regaining hope, and then to healed is quite the journey with a happy ending and if someone is experiencing the first part of that and thinking there’s nothing they can do, I am here to tell them how to get out of it. Everyone deserves that level of self-care and recovery... EVERYONE!
If any of my story resonates and you are ready to receive this same support, reach out to me. Stop feeling worse and start finally feeling better.