Bridging the gap between healthcare and self-care
When my youngest son was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I did what any mother would do — I went back to school for my Master’s degree in nutrition (ok, so maybe it’s a wee bit over the top). His journey to health became mine, as I realized so much of what I’d been suppressing for years as normal was in fact far from it. From IBS, migraines, eczema and chronic sinus infections to anemia, hypoglycemia and a closet filled with jeans in three different sizes because of my yo-yo dieting, I was miserable.
Let’s work together…
…to create a blueprint for your life so that you can find a greater sense of balance.
No more faddy diets.
No more counting calories.
No more thinking there’s nothing you can do.
Just real-world insight: teaching you how to listen to your body and providing lab assessments when needed to get to the root of your most common health complaints.
I wasn’t always a nutritionist…
In fact, I used to be a commercial banker—one who co-owned a retail store with her then-husband. One, who from the outside, looked like she had it all. Husband, kids, house, own business. Living the life. But something was missing. And sometimes it takes a health scare for a wake up call.
In 2007, my son was diagnosed with Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, and Ileitis—all part of Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), an auto- immune disorder involving chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Not knowing anything about this condition, I felt myself getting anxious.
I don’t like not knowing.
I don’t like not being in control.
I had to take action.
It was a big wake up call!
When the doctor first put my son on medication, she told us my son would start to feel relief from his condition. Instead, he started complaining that he was feeling worse. He insisted that it was the medication. The doctor said it was the disease. At first, I listened to the doctor, the healthcare professional, and my son’s symptoms only got worse. What does a parent do? What would you do?
Thankfully, I listened to my son. I took him off the medicine, we waited for his intestines to calm down and tried a different one that worked. This was one instance where I started to take notice of how important it was to listen to our bodies. What if I hadn’t listened to him?
What if I hadn’t listened to him?
The next instance was asking the doctor about changing his diet. Her response was food is not going to do much, it’s the medicine he needs. That just didn’t sit well in my gut (no pun intended). I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it than that and I was determined to figure it out. I was also determined to find another doctor. After watching my son miss a month of school because he was suffering so much (and almost ending up in the emergency room), I made him a promise. I promised him that, by the time he went to college, he’d be off most (if not all) of his meds.
And then I got to work—reading everything I could lay my hands on and taking nutrition classes to learn how I could heal him with food. All of this led me to grad school for a masters in clinical nutrition and a certification as a functional nutritionist.
Curious about my full credentials?
- Masters in Clinical Nutrition (Northeast College of Health Sciences)
- Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P)
- Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner (American Association of Drugless Practitioners)
The result?
He went from being unable to wake up in the morning or stay up at night, to becoming an honors student who was co-captain of the high school track team and ran cross country. He went from hating vegetables to craving green drinks. His allergies disappeared and his eczema went away. And he managed to reduce his medication down from 6-8 pills a day to just one, along with a few supplements. He is now a young adult and on his own journey of discovery of what life has to offer and what his purpose is.
There were side effects too…
By changing our pantry and educating myself, I was teaching my children how to live a balanced life with real food. I realized that we had been eating out of a box. As a busy working mom, everything was about what was easy. Pizza, pasta, chicken nuggets, yogurt in a tube, you name it. I trusted that if the box said it was low-fat or healthy, then it must be. Wow, was I wrong!
As I introduced healthier options, my taste buds naturally changed and so did my kids’. I actually lost weight despite eating more—of the RIGHT foods, that is. And the migraines, aches and pains, allergies, stomach issues, muscle spasms, and inflammation I realized I’d been living with for so long disapp- eared as did the medications I used to take for those conditions. I began to wake up. I began to connect the dots.
It made me realize that if there was so much I didn’t know, how many others were out there in the same boat?
This story is why I created
The G.U.T. Method®
I’ll help you tune into your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. You’re the sum of all your parts, and health problems occur when something is out of balance.
Understand that your symptoms are a cry for help. We’ll explore the clues your body is giving you and explore options to address the root cause of your symptoms.
Together, we’ll design and implement a strategy for food and lifestyle shifts that will bring your body, mind, and spirit back into balance and transform your life.
Today my philosophy is this: create a lifestyle that works for you.
If that means being mindful and eating healthy only 80% of the time, then so be it. You don’t have to do this alone, and you don’t have to have it all figured out right away. Like Martin Luther King said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
If you’re ready to take that first step, let’s chat and find out more about how we can work together. I hope to meet you on your journey!
Here’s to your health,
Sharon