Another Helper to Solve My Health Puzzle

photo credit: Alfonsina Blyde » via photopin cc

I have mentioned on Facebook that I have begun working with Lydia Shatney to solve more of my health puzzle. I don’t know about the rest of you but I find it tough going it alone! Making decisions about diet and supplements without anyone to help me. I do my research but I’m just one person. Lydia went to school for this. She is devoting her time and energy to learning more and more about nutrition and how the body works. (What you thought her education ended when she graduated?) She is also getting experience working with people one on one helping them solve their health issues through diet. Even people like me who don’t follow any of the rules. I’m making her work hard!

Most of us, are lucky if our Dr says anything at all about our diet in regards to how it will impact our health. We might be advised to eat less to lose weight or watch the fat if our cholesterol numbers are running high but few doctors take the time to discuss how diet can impact a chronic condition. When it comes to supplements, most doctors will either tell you that “it can’t hurt” when you ask the about a supplement or “why waste your money”. Generally giving the impression that they find most nutritional supplements to be useless. Doctors are not usually educated about the impact of various supplemental nutrients on your heath. Instead their education come from the drug companies who have a vested interest in you not using nutrition to get healthy. Figuring out the right supplements and nutrition is where someone like Lydia comes in. She understands that certain symptoms indicate certain nutritional deficiencies. She further understands how the body functions and processes the nutrients it takes in and what sorts of things will set it up for success. It isn’t just nutrition but lifestyle choices like exercise and getting enough sleep that can make a big difference in your health.

Lydia is working with me because after all this time on GAPS (3+ years!) I’m still not well. I get better and worse but I don’t get well. I have seen improvement on GAPS and the LOD but I want to be vibrantly healthy and I’m not there, yet. So we are looking at my diet and for what I am missing. She is also helping me prioritize my complex health issues and decide what to tackle in what order. Despite how I behave at times, you simply can’t do everything at once.

The next big health hurdle for me is getting my mercury amalgam fillings removed. I’m not looking forward to the process, but I am eager to be on the other side of it. Then I can begin to detox all the mercury that has built up in my body over the past 25 years or so since they were first put in. Lydia is helping me figure out how to nutritionally support my body through the stress of this removal and the detox that will follow. I am finding her advice and support to be very valuable to me in my healing journey. I thought that I didn’t need anyone like her, but I found myself going to her again and again with questions. It was only fair to her that we make our relationship in this regard more formal. Apparently I did want her help after all.

This is about me and my health but I would be remiss if I did not give you information on how you can start working with Lydia too. I first met Lydia on a GAPS message board. She understands GAPS and gut healing from her own personal experience as well as her schooling. She also is educated in nutritionally supporting many other issues. The more I learn about diet and nutrition the more I know that it is the key to true health and healing. You may benefit from some medications in times of crisis but for truly vibrant resilient health you need a foundation of good nutrition. The process of getting to where your body is deeply nourished looks different for everyone. It is not something you can achieve overnight. Nor is it something that most can accomplish from following a formula or “diet” from a book. We are each so different in how we interact with our foods. “You are what you eat” is a bit of a misnomer. “You are what you digest and absorb” is much more accurate.

Lydia offers one on one coaching That is what I am doing with her. You can head on over to her site to learn more about it. I am finding it to be a very valuable asset to my healing journey. She offers everything from one time 30 and 60 minute trouble shooting calls (with additional e-mail follow up support) to 3 or 6 months of ongoing coaching with phone calls and e-mail support. I get at least one e-mail every week from Lydia asking me how I am doing at meeting my current wellness goals. I haven’t ever had a Dr do that.

Click here to learn more about her Coaching packages.

She also offers classes. You do not need to be local to her to participate in her classes. Everything happens online and over the phone. People from all over the world can participate. Starting March 7th she is offering a great spring tune up. Sugar Detox & Weight Loss. This class goes for 6 weeks and includes classes over the phone as well as online support. This is a great way to get started working with Lydia for a cheaper cost and focused on a clear goal.

Lydia alsos offers a gut healing class. The next session starts March 28th. Why Your Gut is Making You Sick & What To Do About It. This class is a great place to start your healing journey and is really good for people new to GAPS or who have gotten stuck in their healing journey. While this class is focused on the gut that doesn’t mean that it is only about digestive symptoms. Most diseases have a gut component to them even if they do not cause gut symptoms. This class is a great foundation to pursuing any sort of healing in your life.

Last but not least Lydia has written a new book. It is full of tried and true family favorites. (Lydia has 4 growing boys at home). Her book is called Divine Dinners and it has a wide variety of gluten free dinner options for the whole family. It contains over 80 recipes as well as covering some of the basics of eating a nutrient dense, gluten free diet. Also Lydia is including a $25 off coupon in each book that can be applied to one of her coaching packages. Go ahead over and learn more about this book.

Before you ask, this is not a GAPS book. Some of the recipes are GAPS legal and others can be easily tweaked to make them GAPS legal. I personally love the unique ideas that she has and I feel inspired by reading this book.

Divine Dinners: Gluten Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals