Once you’ve been on the whole foods, unprocessed (for the most part!) foods train for a while, you can start to wonder…
What’s next? What else do I want to accomplish, or why do I still get heartburn? Why does almond butter give me a stomachache, but everyone else seems to do fine with it? It can be difficult to parcel out what really helps us feel good, especially when we get into the nitty-gritty of certain nutrients.
With this, I’ve been reflecting on the power of the functional evaluation nutritional therapy practitioners are trained in. WHY have I been reflecting so much? Because I got to have a functional evaluation performed on me (thanks, Julie!), complete with the lingual neural testing, to help get a good game plan going for me. I hadn’t had a full functional evaluation for myself since I ended my NTP classwork just over a year ago. A lot can change in a year, right? In the past few months I’d found myself jumping from protocol to protocol for myself, and recognized that even though this is the language I speak day in and day out, it’s best to have your own coach, even in the field you work in.
A total “Doy!” moment, but apparently, I needed that to happen regardless. I mean really, why does Solcana work so well? Someone is doing the programming for you–then YOU show up and do the work. Why do health challenges work while you participate in them? Someone made them, provided structure, and you’re accountable to them–all you gotta do is the WORK. With this, Julie and I deduced using the functional evaluation just what my body was really responding to in a helpful way–the l-glutamine powder I bought myself and used once in a while for gut healing? Yeah, that was just OK–but some good old fashioned apple cider vinegar? Well la di dah, my body responded like a dream to it! And sauerkraut? Even dreamier.
All this to say–if you’re confused, or you feel like you’re hopping around all over the place, you’re not alone. In fact, that’s a sign of strength, and you’re awesome for creating ideas and schemes to further your health and find greater peace in your body. Just don’t forget–you don’t have to go it alone. You can use your body to tell you what it’s looking for, and it being the magnificence it is, will respond. All we have to do is listen, and the functional evaluation is so helpful for this!
Feel free to grab me at the gym and ask me more about the functional evaluation and how it works. I’d love to tell you!