What does good health mean to you? It can mean different things to different people, especially for those that struggle with joint pain, digestive issues, are fatigued or that feel they live a healthy lifestyle, yet still have many more symptoms than they should.
Think about this…by the time you have symptoms, many systems in your body are already dysfunctional. There is a lot going on in the body. Hormones, which are the little messengers of the body, have places to go and things to say. Yet dysfunction in one area can stop, or lessen the impact, of the message in other areas. Dysfunction in our liver can derail the messages sent out by our thyroid. Gut health can affect every system in our bodies.
But symptoms themselves will not always tell us what is the origin of the dysfunction.
You may have joint pain that has been around for a while. Some days it is worse than others. The problem is that although this pain is always there now, you still remember a time when it wasn’t. Unfortunately, you have just learned to live with it. Is it a joint issue? Is it an inflammation issue? Is it a digestive issue? How would you find out?
When did it start being acceptable to not feel good? When did having symptoms of dysfunction become normal? Why is it “normal” to have constant headaches or muscle pain? Why is it accepted as “normal” to feel tired all the time? Why should women go into menopause and just assume that hot flashes, weight gain and failing libido will follow?
Working to uncover dysfunction leads to balance in all systems of the body and the relief of symptoms.
Our bodies are unique in that they are constantly striving to be healthy and maintain internal stability. When one system of our body gets out of line, the other systems will adjust to accommodate this dysfunction. This is adaptation. Your body is adapting to the dysfunction while still trying to maintain stability. This will continue until those supporting systems also start becoming dysfunctional. Bringing balance to the functions of the body starts you on the path to improved health. There is no drug, no supplement, and no one super food that can do this. Only by understanding the underlying cause of the dysfunction can you start progress, achieve greater health and understand how to keep your good health for the rest of your life. Where do you start?
It begins with the uniqueness of you.
All of us have wonderful and unique bodies. Even though the list of dysfunctions may be standard, symptoms are not normal. How they affect you and how they present as symptoms, as well as what it takes to start feeling better, are part of your uniqueness.
How can we, as functional health coaches, get clues about understanding any dysfunction that may be present in your body? We start with the understanding that you are an individual and that your health support needs to be that individualized too. The most beneficial time we spend with you is the time we spend together discussing you, your lifestyle, your health concerns and complaints and what it is you want to improve in these areas.
We also use functional lab testing. These tests, done in the privacy of your home, provide clues to what is happening within the delicate balance of the body and its systems. This is another reason it is so important that we understand the most we can about you. Without this discussion, it’s impossible to look at a lab test and understand what those numbers mean in relationship to you. We need to understand what YOUR normal is, NOT just a reference range. You are so much more than a number on a test!
Many clients tell us they eat a very healthy diet. What they don’t always realize is that eating healthy food and eating the RIGHT foods for them are two different things. Drinking green juice may help your friend feel great, but when you drink it, you feel fatigued and sleepy. Why? Understanding which foods actually fuel your body is a foundational building block for great health.
Once we have gathered our clues, we work with you using nutrition as a basis of starting to find balance in your health. We use every functional tool possible to have the best understanding of what balance needs to happen in order for you to feel better. Then those tools become your tools :)…that is Self Care!
What if you are currently working with a doctor on a specific treatment? We are not doctors and we neither treat nor diagnose disease, but we do look for healing opportunities and the work we do together is complimentary to the work you are doing with your doctor.
How is that so? For instance, you may be seeing a doctor because you have headaches. While we don’t target symptoms, we do help you support balance in the body and work to relieve internal stressors, which in turn helps support any therapy prescribed by your doctor.
How do you start to feel better?
You first start by committing to do what is necessary to make the changes that will help to restore your health. No one can do the work for you. And even with the right tools, you can fail if you are not willing to make permanent lifestyle changes.
You will need to make changes to the food you eat, you will need to be sure that you are getting plenty of rest, you will need to get up and get moving, you will need to better manage stress and you will need to know which supplements to take to support your body as it rebalances itself.
The best way to do this is to talk with a functional health coach. They can give you all of the tools that you need to restore your body to where it should be, so that you can feel good again!
