Who Am I?
I help men and women age gracefully and beautifully by getting to the root cause of belly fat, energy loss, and hormone imbalance. I do this by using functional lab work and lifestyle changes so they can get well and stay well.
My passion and desire are to give hope and a reason to live, to people who suffer from illness and disease, including
- adrenal dysfunction
- hormone dysregulation
- thyroid
- diabetes
- IBS
- fibromyalgia
- heart disease
- gut and digestive issues
- auto-immune
- arthritis
- food sensitivities
- cancer
All these conditions and more can be addressed through whole foods. I focus on reducing inflammation in the body that is the cause of weight gain, illness and cancers. Using the functional medicine approach, I focus on the whole person, getting to the “why” behind the “why”. I don’t just look at symptoms, but look to the root cause, helping you discover the “why” behind those symptoms.
I long to see others gain health and vitality through whole foods, and to learn that healthy eating can be delicious, easy to prepare, and inexpensive. I help clients lose weight from food and life habits alone, without the use of shakes and powders.
I also speak to businesses and organizations on various health topics.
- Certified Holistic Health Coach, 2015 Health Coach Institute
- Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
- A Person of Faith
Highlights of My Journey
Children came, and with them an extra 30 lbs., that would not budge…and the fatigue…oh the fatigue! Managing young children, career, and ever-increasing stress and hormone imbalance brought on another 10 pounds. Stress was out the kwazoo! I was tired, crabby, and burned out. I was drinking a 6 pack of diet coke, plus 4-5 cups of coffee just to make it through the day. I desperately wanted to get off the sugar roller coaster, but did not know how!
One day, I looked in the mirror and saw pasty, flabby skin, dull eyes, and listless hair. I had zero energy, had to drag myself out of bed each day. A nap after work became a common theme in my life, as well as falling asleep at night in the chair. My nails were brittle and chipped. My hair wouldn’t grow and I had aches in my knees, stiffness in my joints, arthritis and migraine headaches. I suffered from premenstrual issues, and then menopausal hot flashes. I was diagnosed with fibroids. And my eyesight was getting worse. I was a mess!
But I Began Eating the SAD Diet again…
So, gradually, because of the stress of several moves, and life situations, I began eating the SAD diet (standard American diet) again. I didn’t feel well, but just couldn’t get off the “convenience” with our hectic lifestyle. Slowly, my weight began to creep back…
I was floundering, and felt useless, like I was not living up to my purpose.
Being a woman of faith, it occurred to me one day, that I could read the Bible while I sit there. It’s like the light bulb came on…of course, why hadn’t I thought about this before? So began my journey back to healing…
I began reading scriptures…eventually soaking myself in the Bible. And I discovered my purpose, my confidence, and my determination to do something about it. I began to pray, “Increase my faith, Lord”.
One day, as I prayed and read, a thought came to me that I should start walking the neighborhood and pray for our community. WHAT?! I can’t even walk across the room, much less in the neighborhood. I kept having this thought every time I read the Bible and prayed…finally about 3 weeks later, I decided to do it. I laced up my shoes, and started walking and praying. I prayed for each and every neighbor on my street, even though I didn’t know most of them…I prayed for strong marriages, for calm and happy, obedient children, for those struggling with health issues and emotional or traumatic pain. And as I walked, I prayed that God would use my feet, use them to direct me to someone hurting, someone who needs encouragement. I kept praying “…Increase my faith, Lord.,..”.
I didn’t walk every day, and the days I did walk, my feet hurt the rest of the day, and I couldn’t do much else. But all the while I prayed…
Increase my faith, Lord”, “May I decrease, while you increase”.
As I walked, I began to have many opportunities where I was forced to step outside of my comfort zone. I had to make decisions about new leadership opportunities. Soon I found myself needing to befriend those that I was uncomfortable with, as well as loving and reaching out to those around me that were unlovable. I soon had no time to think about myself, as I began to pour myself into others.
I have since discovered that whole foods, not processed, chemically packaged foods, are what my body needs to heal from diseases, illnesses and other symptoms. My arthritis, sciatica, stiff and achy joints and migraines, completely disappeared. I lost nearly 20 pounds, and sailed through menopause with no symptoms or hot flashes, and no more fibroids! My eyesight has improved so much that I no longer need readers! In fact, I no longer need to wear contacts or glasses! I have been a sugar addict all my life, but can now say that I have had no more sugar cravings for over a year!
I knew that I was called for a purpose…and that purpose is to love God and glorify Him forever, AND serve others with my nutrition knowledge helping them to overcome illness and disease! The passion within began to grow…I needed to give people hope so they can know that aging does NOT mean sitting in a wheel chair, day in and day out, feeling depressed, ill, and useless too.
But moving three times in four years, leaving both children behind (college), marrying both of them off, and helping my husband through heart surgery, really played a toll on my stress, and thus my hormones. Chronic fatigue set in, as well as hormone imbalance and a nice roll of belly fat that wouldn’t budge. Doctors just wanted to put me on medication and hormones. (Just check out how I looked in my food demo videos on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/veronicashealthyliving/notifications/. It didn’t matter how well I ate, exercised or detoxed, nothing was changing! I still could not lose weight, sleep at night, or get up in the morning. The fatigue was crushing!
Doctors just wanted to put me on medication and hormones, but I knew that there were natural ways of overcoming my illness, and I was determined to find it.
My health is on the mend, now that I studied Functional Medicine under Reed Davis, the School of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. ( Check out the school here through my affiliate link: http://www.functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com/affiliate ) It was through this course that I learned how the body and its systems work together. We treat the whole person, not the symptom. The symptoms are a signal from the body that something is not right. It is my job as a FDN-P to get to the root cause of why the body is acting out with each symptom.
As I dove deep into this learning, I soon learned about my own issues. Since FDN teaches us and qualifies us to order labs and interpret them for clients, I was able to understand my adrenal and hormone dysfunction and get to the root cause. As I navigated my way through the course, I began to put into practice what I was learning, and therefore, I began to feel better, sleep at night, and have more energy. Yes! The crushing fatigue was lifting. And the weight began to peel off.
I graduated with my FDN-P certification in May of 2018, and began right away taking on new clients. I still work with clients, using food and natural protocols to overcome health issues, but now, I can help them dig deeper with functional lab work. See previous page for more information on the functional work that I do.
I do not sell products, nor do I require the purchasing of shakes, powders, and food bars or food products. I teach how to plan, shop, prepare and serve easy-to-prepare whole foods that are inexpensive and delicious!
You make eating vegetables fun!”, as one client once said to me.
I can’t believe that now, at age 58, I am sleeping through the night without getting up to go to the bathroom! I don’t remember when the last time I slept through the night!”
I am amazed at how quickly my digestive issues cleared up, since working with Veronica. She gently helped learn the correct diet based on my lab work, and helped me change long-time habits that I have never been able to shake. The Functional Lab Work she had me run was life changing, in that I had no idea that burping and gas after eating certain foods, especially legumes, was a digestive issue and a result of intestinal permeability. I now can eat legumes, and cruciferous vegetables with no problem. “