NUTRITION SERVICES
As a functional nutritional counselor I ask the question, Why? Why is this person experiencing these symptoms or conditions? I employ the "back it up" approach that uncovers the root cause of your symptoms, the upstream factors, rather than treating the downstream symptoms. The "back it up" approach ensures that we've taken the correct steps, in the correct order to restore your body's health. By addressing the underlying imbalances I can intervene in illness and create lasting, sustainable changes in your health.
Often times with a new symptom or medical complaint we desire to feel better quickly. It's tempting to look at the diagnosis or the symptom that is most affecting your life, and try a new medicine, supplement or protocol to remedy the issue. But each one of use has his or her own unique set of lifestyles, circumstances that may manifest with the same diagnosis or symptom. This is why I utilize a bio-individualized approach.
In order to heal you must have a healthy gastrointestinal tract, gut, and a diverse microbiota, which are the bacteria that live primarily in your large intestine. Leaky gut syndrome is a real and unrecognized problem in conventional medicine. Your gut is lined with cells that form tight junctions to prevent unwanted things from entering the blood. But the foods we eat can cause these tight junctions to widen. Imagine the cells as tile in your bathroom and the grout as the tight junctions, which creates a barrier to prevent undigested foods from entering the blood. When the grout breaks down things can move in between the tiles, such as bacteria and undigested food particles. This is what happens with a leaky gut. When partially undigested nutrients pass into your blood, your body can recognize them as a foreign invader. To neutralize foreign invaders your body mounts an immune response. As this happens your body fails to recognize itself, and this is the root cause of all autoimmune disorders.
Rome was not created in one day nor does change transpire overnight. It is a process to heal. While a one-time nutrition counseling session can be effective, the road to healing and feeling better is done in phases over many months. If you have a health issue, or chronic disease, you did not develop this problem in one day, nor will nutrition cure you in one day or one week. But, I promise you that you will begin to feel better in as little as two weeks if you put the effort in.
FREE INFORMATIONAL & DISCOVERY CALL
Are you unsure what a nutrition counselor does or how I can help you? Are you unsure if we'll be a good fit? Get started with a FREE 30-minute phone consultation. During this call we will discuss what you are currently doing, or what you have tried, to address your health concerns and life goals. We will discuss your medical history, and I will share with you what I think is causing your symptoms and health issues, and more importantly how I can help you fix them. I'll tell you all about my approach and pricing.
You don't need to prepare anything in advance for this call. I look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve your goals and improve your life.
PRIOR TO THE FIRST VISIT - FOOD JOURNAL
I will have you complete a survey that goes over your symptoms and medical history. I also have you complete a 7-10 day food journal that records what you eat, not the amounts, and the times you eat. I am not interested in calories consumed, and you will learn why this is so. The journal gives me a snapshot of your life at that moment, and a sense of the variety of foods you eat. The journal is your first step towards feeling better, and documents the times that you wake up and you go to bed. This is important later for healing with the migratory motor complex that your colon undergoes each night while you sleep, which is critical to good health and healing.
I also have you fill out the fruit and vegetable list to ascertain which ones you have tried and liked. This allows me to better create bio-individualized meal plans for you, and to introduce new foods, spices and herbs
After reviewing your journal I may make subtle changes prior to our first in-person or zoom meeting. This may be as simple as adding lemon to your water or Matcha to your coffee or smoothie.
THE FIRST VISIT - ONBOARDING & INFORMATION GATHERING
I employ motivational interviewing to get a clear picture of what may, or may not be, happening in your body. We review your food journal, your medical history, and your prior blood work that your health care provider has already done. Through my interviewing we uncover ALL of your symptoms, including the ones you did not realize that you had or that are connected to your gut health.
Our visits are different than what you experience in your provider's office, where they hear your symptoms, ascribe a diagnosis, and ONLY treat your symptoms. Only treating the symptoms leaves the root cause intact. For example, osteoarthritis results from inflammation. Undergoing knee replacement will address that specific knee, but the inflammation remains to wreak havoc on other joints.
I look for the root cause of your symptoms so that we can heal you from the inside out, preventing issues from developing or becoming problematic again. Getting it right the first time saves you time, energy, frustration and money. No longer will you have to obtain a new prescription because the last one failed to treat your symptoms or gave you side effects. Healthful eating does have side effects that include improved sleep, more energy and better focus that will improve your life. You will have more time to focus on what is important to you - family, friends, hobbies or pets.
You will measure your height to waist ratio, HtWR, which reflects the distribution of body fat. An increased abdominal girth suggests the presence of leaky gut. The traditional BMI is a useless measurement that fails to account for muscle mass.
$85 for the visit and can be done in-person or via zoom.
FOLLOW UP VISITS - BIO-INDIVIDUALIZED HEALING PROTOCOL
During this phase I create bio-individualized meal plans FOR YOU that address the root cause of your health issues. Here we address the cause of your symptoms and medical problems, heal your leaky gut and improve your microbiota so your health issues do not return. Your meal plan is customized to your lifestyle, likes, goals and culture. No one eats well all the time, and I am no different. I believe in the 80/20 or 90/10 whereby you can eat well 80% or 90% of the time respectively.
Not only do I create your meal plan, but I create ingredient lists, shopping lists and recipes so that you can heal. I can even do your grocery shopping for you. I do as much of the work for you as possible so that you can focus on healing, and you can focus on what is important to you in your life - spending more time with family, friends or hobbies.
You have access to me via phone and email for any questions that you may have. I am in constant communication with you between visits to see how you are doing, offer advice. motivation, support and make changes if necessary before we meet again. No more waiting for answers until you are seen again like you experience with your health care provider.
During this phase we meet monthly for 6 months. I will be available to you via phone and email to answer any questions and to offer continued support and motivation. We also measure your waist-to-height to demonstrate your progress. We reassess your symptoms, and I may suggest blood work for your provider to do to monitor your progress.
$45 per visit and this can be done in-person or via zoom.
MAINTENACE HEALING EATING
During these visits I set you up for lifelong success and health. One of the things that you will notice at this point, or earlier, is that when you don't eat well YOU DON'T FEEL GOOD!
We go over the symptoms you first had at our first meeting, and we document the profound impact we have had on your life. We will review all blood work that you had prior to our first meeting and during this time to document your improvement. We will review medications that you were on prior to our visit and that your health care provider removed as a result of your effort and OUR work. We measure your waist-to-height measurement to show your progress and flatter stomach!
During this phase we meet every 3 months for 6-12 months. As always, I am available to you via phone and email to answer any questions and to offer continued support and motivation. Remember healing is a process that does not transpire over a day or a week or even a year.
$35 per visit and this can be done in-person or via zoom.
FINE TUNING VISITS - CORRECTING ISSUES
Health issues may arise, a new problem or diagnosis may develop that requires fining tuning of your bio-individualized nutrition plan. Remember this is a process, and life happens. For example, a parent may pass, which is creating more anxiety or you are having more stress at work that is affecting your mood and sleep.
If this happens, we pause where we are at, reassess and fine tune our plan. When the issue is under control we resume YOUR healing. But, because of the work that you have done these episodes will not impact you as they did prior to us meeting and working together.
I anticipate only a few visits to get you back on the road to healing and living your best life.
These visits are $45 per visit and can be done in-person or via zoom.
PERSONAL HOME CONCIERGE
DECLUTTERING & ORGANIZING YOUR KITCHEN, HOUSE & LIFE
Give back to yourself the gift of time. Time to improve your health. Time to spend with your family, your friends, your pets, your hobbies. Let me give you the peace of mind that every day tasks and chores are getting done for you.
You are busy and do not always have the time to do what needs to be done in your life to create lasting routines. Routines build habits, and good habits produce positive change. Positive change delivers positive results. Disorganization, clutter, and feeling overwhelmed with life and all that you must accomplish in a day creates stress, chaos and an inability to focus your efforts elsewhere. Such feelings increase your cortisol levels that can lead to adrenal fatigue.
Tasks I can perform for you - grocery shopping, dry cleaning, making appointments, house cleaning, organization, decluttering.
$25-30 per hour depending upon the task.