Clients who usually work with me are:
- people with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- people with another autoimmune disease
- people looking for support in food and lifestyle changes that will help improve their health and well-being.
- people who would like to eat more cleanly and eat whole real nutrient-dense foods, and people who want to lose weight.
- entrepreneurs who are wanting to start or who are already running a business while also having an autoimmune disease and are wanting help in balancing their work and home life as well as lowering their autoimmune disease symptoms and improve their nutrition, health, and wellness.
- a parent or guardian who is homeschooling or unschooling their children while also suffering from an autoimmune disease and wanting help in simplifying their homeschooling or unschooling and balancing out the home and schooling or unschooling while also lowering their autoimmune symptoms and improving their nutrition, health, and wellness. * I unschool my 11-year-old daughter and before that, I homeschooled her while having Rheumatoid Arthritis, so I can help you to simplify and streamline and get to the heart of homeschooling or unschooling while also managing RA or another autoimmune disease and lessening symptoms and flare-ups.*
How I can help you as an Integrative Nutrition Health and Wellness Coach:
- collaborate with you and guide you through overall lifestyle changes, with a focus on nutrition and well-being using an Integrative approach.
- Since I have acquired a broad understanding of many different dietary theories and tools, I can mentor you to improve your overall health and well-being through food changes and lifestyle changes.
- I can be a part of your healthcare team and help you understand the diagnosis and plan of care you’ve been given, provide general education about biomarkers, educate you to become a discerning consumer, listen with compassion and acknowledge the emotions you are having and going through, and empower you to also seek information and create your own personalized plans.
- help you to lose weight and understand things like insulin resistance, cravings, emotional connection, eating habits, stress and eating, etc.
- help you to understand the gut and gut microbiome and the latest science on inflammation, permeation of the gut and toxins slipping through and autoimmune diseases and how to lower inflammation, and how to manage your autoimmune disease and body better.
- help you take a look at what we call primary foods, (the foods not on your plate) like relationships, health, joy, spirituality (whatever that looks like to you), education, home cooking, physical activity, home environment, finances, career, and creativity and help you to improve these along with improving your nutrition, health, and wellness.
- help you to have long-lasting changes.
- Empower you
What an Integrative Nutrition Health and Wellness Coach is not:
- a nutritionist or someone who is qualified to prescribe any medications nor take the place of a GP or any other form of psychological or psychiatric counselor or Doctor.
- a Health Coach is NOT supposed to replace any of the above, rather it is there to support and complement other health care professionals.
- coaches do NOT provide diagnosis, give treatment recommendations, order or interpret labs, recommend or sell supplements, provide psychotherapy, or design exercise plans.
My Own Autoimmune Disease Journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis:
I was first diagnosed at age 8 with JIA (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis) and was bedridden for three months and had to be taken out of school. And then as an adult, I was diagnosed with Sero-Negative Rheumatoid Arthritis. My grandmother had been an invalid from RA since she had been 16 as well as my mom has RA severely with deformed hands and feet. And, my brother and niece both have severe Ulcerative Colitis, so I am passionate about helping other people with autoimmune diseases because I know what it is like to feel hopeless and see your health and well-being slipping away and wondering if this is it and fearing it will only get worse.
And then about 4 and half years ago, I was looking into getting an electric scooter and had been approved for one by my Rheumatologist because I could no longer walk through stores, walk up a flight of stairs ( I literally only ever took an elevator), or take my daughter to a park and walk through it as well as going from the closest parking spot at the library or store to inside a store I would have to sit down and take a break and rest. I also suffered from severe RA inflammation in the brain and every day as I would flare more throughout the day or start to go into another flare I would have horrible brain fog. I would struggle to get words out, or I would forget words, occasionally I would slur a word, or I would struggle with trying to find my way around in a store and trying to find the items on my grocery list (this was before grocery delivery) because of my RA brain fog. I also had a hoarse voice from the joint in my throat flaring and would sound raspy at times. Along with brain fog and brain inflammation, I would have joint pain, joint swelling, body pain, and RA body inflammation, and if I was in a flare and accidentally did too much I would be bedridden for a few days for up to three months. And any sickness I got from a cold to pneumonia could put me down and bedridden for up to 3 months from my RA flaring and my body’s slow recovery from the cold I had.
I also had, what my life partner coined, really tiny RA Amber batteries that I could never overuse and we figured out that I needed to treat myself not as a healthy person with a 100% battery but as as a sick person with only a 40% battery and so I learned to do only small tasks and do them one at a time and then I would take a break and ask myself if I could do another small task and this was my life for the past several years and I felt feelings of hopelessness and that I would be disabled for the rest of my life.
Then about 4 years ago, with severe RA brain fog and my tiny little Amber batteries, I slowly started teaching myself the AIP Autoimmune Protocol Pale diet and I switched over to only eating whole real foods and non-packaged or boxed or processed foods. I only ate real whole foods that were nutrient-dense and were higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, and then later I added in time-restricted eating of 16/8 plus I started focusing on improving my overall well-being and lifestyle and this allowed me to finally get completely off my RA heavy-duty combo of meds of Methotrexate 8 pills a week and Rinvoq (before that I had been on Enbrel and Humira) and for the first time in my life, thrive.
I no longer have any RA brain fog or brain inflammation. I no longer have any RA body inflammation or joint pain or swelling. And, I finally no longer have fatigue or exhaustion. And, because I feel so fricken amazing and not buried under RA symptoms anymore and I no longer have any fears of flaring, I am following my passion of wanting to help others get out from under their autoimmune disease and start thriving by using an Integrative Nutrition Health and Wellness approach.
I collaborate with you using an integrative nutrition approach and empower you and help you to thrive and to have long-lasting changes!
