I'm Whole30 Certified... but WHY?

If you follow me on social media, I made a BIG announcement a few weeks ago... I recently added to Whole30 Certified Coach to my (long) list of credentials,

You might be wondering why a pharmacist with an MBA bothered pursuing yet another certification. The answer is simple. I wanted to be able to use something that had helped ME to be able to help YOU.

My Whole30 story isn't as glamorous as some. I didn't lose a large amount of weight (or really lose any weight at all), I didn't have major food issues to work through BUT I did feel like crap and wanted to feel better.

My entire life I've been interested in health. I played sports my entire life and in college became interested in running and fitness and healthy eating. Healthy eating back then was grilled chicken, lots of fat free or low fat yogurt, plenty of granola bars and low calorie frozen meals. For the longest time, I looked and felt pretty good.

In pharmacy school, I did more of the same. I ate well and exercised but I was caffeinated and stressed to the max. My health as I had known it came crumbling down right before I graduated. Hair loss, a cold I couldn't kick, tons of anxiety. The doctors said I was stressed (DUH) and put me on some anxiety medicine and sent me on my way. But my symptoms (always cold, always constipated, hair falling out in clumps, eyebrows going missing, TMJ) kept progressing.

After what was probably YEARS of suffering, I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. But what now?! Aside from taking a thyroid supplement, there really wasn't much else modern medicine had to offer. I knew there had to be a better way.

I had been gluten free for a year or so prior to my diagnosis and knew the next step had to be something BIG. I was familiar with Whole30 and decided to give it a go. I literally had nothing to lose. Like a good scientist, I did baseline labs prior to completing my first Whole30 in January 2016. I missed cheese and wine (which had become my go-to dinner after my late shifts at work) but persevered. 

My persistence paid off. After 30 days, my thyroid antibodies (which measure the attack of the body on the thyroid gland) had decreased by 50%. Enthusiastic, I decided to do another Whole30 and had another 50% decrease in antibodies. I haven't had a bite of cheese in over 2 years.

After much research and literal "paralysis by analysis", I had found a real, sustainable method to help control my symptoms. 

I shared my results with my parents (one with  high blood pressure and one with high cholesterol) and they agreed to jump on board.My first Whole30 clients ended up going off of their blood pressure and cholesterol medicine JUST by eating real food.

When the opportunity to become a Whole30 Certified Coach presented itself, I knew I had to jump on board. As a pharmacist, most tools in my toolkit are drugs. And while they have their place, if I had it my way, we would PREVENT illness instead of PRESCRIBING pills to treat it. And that's exactly what the Whole30 can do!

Y'all, if the Whole30 was a drug it would be worth BILLIONS of dollars and every pharmaceutical company would be fighting for the rights to it. AND you would pay whatever the copay was OUT OF POCKET just to have it. 

But it's not as easy as popping a pill, REAL , GENUINE health rarely is. I'm proud to say I'm a pharmacist AND Whole30 Certified Coach, And I can't wait to help you find your path to health.