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Ultimate Guide To Starting A Health Coaching Business in 2020

Ultimate Guide To Starting A Health Coaching Business in 2020

by | BLOG, Want to be a health coach?

There are a few things that you need to have in place once you are officially a health coach.  Many of these steps you can start while in school or taking your courses!  I put together an ultimate guide to starting a health coaching business in 2020, showing you how to start a health coaching business.  I am sharing what I learnt along the way and I hope you will find it helpful.

In this Ultimate Guide To Starting A Health Coaching Business in 2020 you will find information on the following:

  • Your Why
  • Legal Aspects
  • Strategize
  • Equipment
  • Be seen – online presence
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Mindset

 

Not a health coach yet but wondering how you can become one?  Check out this article that covers more.

RELATED ARTICLE:  How To Become A Health Coach

 

how to start a health coaching business written on laptop

Know WHY you want to be a health coach!

Staying current is something that can feel will never actually be achievable because new discoveries are made daily and one can simply never know everything.  I remember feeling this way many times but once I sat down and really figured out WHY I wanted to be a health coach, I started to feel more joy in my business.

I highly suggest that you look at your own balance weekly.  Your own homework… Write down your ideal client. This is a good recount for you to make sure that your desires as you build your business stay in alignment and that you are still in tune with your passion and strengths.

Most of the time it is something that you have personally gone through or someone close to you has gone though that has put you on this journey and that can be your WHY.  This matters for when things seem too hard and you feel like you want to quit.

 

What forms do you need to make your website legal

Every business has a legal aspect. The on-line space is no different.  You need to be aware of what you need on your website to make it legal.

How do you know what your need to make your website legal?

Disclosure: I am NOT an attorney. Always seek legal guidance if you are unclear or uncertain of any area regarding your business.  This post will provide information only and is not legal advice.

The three pages that you want to make sure are on every page of your website are a disclosure policy, terms and conditions and privacy policy.  You can purchase templates that allow you to customize them to your specific needs.

 

Strategize

Set aside time to evaluate and re-evaluate how you are working; do this every single week.  Keep focus on your ideal client and how you can best serve them.  Only work with a select number of clients at a time and focus 100% on them and their healing and holding space for them.

 

ipad and coffee

 

At first it may seem hard to get clients but once you do, it can feel overwhelming unless you have a strategy in place.  If you take on too many clients,  you loose research time and sacrifice your abilities.  It is so tempting to take on every client that reaches out, it is so tempting to take on too many/too much.

The desire to help can run high, the desire to make more financially is obvious and yet if you do this, if you loose sight of what your limits and boundaries are or your true vision and passion than you sacrifice yourself.  When that happens, all of that temptation means nothing because you will not help anyone and you will suffer as well.

 

What makes you unique?

Write out your journey and the reason why your want to help others.  Share your story, that tells people that you really do understand.  Don’t be afraid to feel confident in your area of expertise.  That is why you narrow down who you want to work with and what you want to help them with; known as your niche.

 

What is your offer?

Put into words exactly what you have to offer.  Not just your package but how you will deliver it and why it will help them.  There are a lot of programs available so why should someone buy from you versus the other hundreds of people in the same industry.  What about you makes someone feel comfortable sharing their health story with you?

Draw up a rough idea of what you would like to offer as packages?  Do you offer a 90 day challenge, a 3 month intense series, do you do live video with your clients.

Make sure that your clients know exactly what you do, what you offer, how they will work with you and why they should work with you.

 

How much do you charge?

This is a tricky one but truthfully we make more it difficult on ourselves then needed.  Your fee doesn’t matter as much as what you are giving the person.  If you can figure out the one supplement or 6 foods they need to help them, they would likely pay anything…  I don’t believe in ripping people off but you have to account for your time and energy as much as what the problem is you are helping them with.

I suggest starting with a slightly lower fee until you have a few testimonies.  Then with each growth period that you have you can increase your fee as you feel fair.

 

Equipment that you will need to build an online business

The basic piece of equipment that you will need is a laptop.  The rest you can purchase later.

  • Laptop or Computer
  • Quality microphone
  • Quality camera
  • Quality head phones
  • Professional photos
  • USB stick
  • Back up function

 

laptop with plant beside it

Best platforms for building a health coaching business

Practice Better is an online platform that gives you everything you need to create customized forms, meal plans, supplement suggestions, lifestyle recommendations.  I have tried a few platforms and this one is by far my favorite.  It is also HIPPA compliant which for me was a really big deal.

Fullscript is a great supplement dispensary that you can use and it sinks with Practice Better so that you can have the most of both and create great protocols for your clients.

 

Get Seen — Online Presence

WordPress Site

I recommend that you set up a WordPress site.  I personally tried others in the beginning only to be led back to WordPress.  It may seem overwhelming in the beginning but after you get the hang of it, it really is easy.  You don’t need to hire someone to set this up for you.  I have a course that walks you through the steps here.

HARO

Once you have your website established you can register with HARO, help a reporter out.  Once you apply, you will receive a couple e-mails a day.  You can send in your best answer to a suitable query and if they use your answer, they will link your website which can help get you back links for your website.

Blog Posting

Blog posting is a great way to build like/know/trust with your audience.  Provide as much helpful information as you can, this leads to a following and potential clients that can’t wait to work with you.  Make sure that you write about relevant information, don’t have a post about puppies if your niche is women’s hormones.  You also want to make sure that you optimize each post as this will help Google find it and put it in front of your audience.  I walk you through SEO in Health Coach Creator.

Guest Blog Posting

Guest posting can help you get in front of a larger audience as well as build back links.  Blog posting can be intimidating but after you do one or two it will become more comfortable.  Search for fellow coaches and reach out to them to see if they would be interested in having a guest post on their site and what topic that you feel you can provide a great post on.  Avoid trading guest posts as Google is smart and will know; you will not get back links for doing this.

Social Platforms

Working on line is an amazing opportunity to in front of a large audience but you need to have a presence on these platforms for them to see you.  I suggest that you focus on one platform at first until you are consistent posting on it a couple times a day.  The biggest thing is consistency, if you post once a week then make sure you post once a week.  If you post 3 times a day, then post 3 times a day.

Depending on your niche you may find one platform more beneficial.  Where is your audience?  If you focus on recipes for weight loss, specifically Keto or GAPS, then you may choose Pinterest.  If you are zoning in on men’s health, you may look at Facebook or Instagram.

 

Marketing

You can have the best offer, the best course or the best service BUT if no one sees it; it won’t sell.  If you don’t sell to anyone then you make no money and then you have an expensive hobby…

To avoid that, we look at marketing to get as much eyes on your website as possible.  A great way to do that is through list building, public speaking and library or school visits.

E-mail

Many talk about the all important list.  It truly does matter and the reason is because if anything ever happens to social platforms you won’t be out of business.  The idea is to have people on your list that truly want to be and will at some point hopefully become a client.

Provide quality content to your list only.  Many talk about over sharing of themselves as a sales tactic but I am strongly against this.  Like/know and trust has always been important but I personally do not need to know what someone did on the weekend or a picture of their cat in order to purchase a quality course or product.

You also do not want to spam your list.  They do not need an e-mail from you daily nor do they want to only hear from you when you are trying to sell something.  Provide content that will help them and then you can introduce them to a new product/service that you may have.

Public Speaking

If you are comfortable than this can be an incredible way to grow your business.  You can pass out a form for those that want on your monthly newsletter can sign up.  They may love what you had to share and connect with you at a later date or sign up to be a client in one of your programs on the spot.

School/Library Talks

Schools and library’s are amazing ways to reach school age children if your niche is children.  You can provide education of healthy foods and recipes.  You can also send home a flyer with your contact information for parents to set up a session with you if they feel beneficial.

Mindset

This step should be mentioned before and after every single step because without it nothing matters.  As a health coach your desire is or should be to help others and to do that involves a great deal of energy.  When you release this kind of energy on a daily basis it can and likely will at some point make you feel like stopping.

Keeping on top of your mindset is crucial in any job but especially as a health coach.  You will hear many stories and journey’s and with that the pain and suffering that accompanied.

 

RELATED ARTICLE:  Mindset — tools that can help!

Already have a couple clients?

Let go of any clients that you feel are not a good fit, maybe they aren’t following the protocol and yet “say/think/want” to get better but will not look at their blocks, maybe they aren’t making their payments, maybe they simply are not ready or doing any of the homework or perhaps they are not truly a good fit and you can point them in a better direction for them.

I used to truly dread this reflection. I felt fear, was I failing them, was I not enough, did I do something wrong…. I had to do a lot of mindset work to learn that some women would say they believed and felt that my work/protocol was what they truly needed and yet they deeply inwardly just wanted a quick fix and thought maybe I had it. I had to learn that it was ok to say no, that it was ok to fire a client when they weren’t doing the work or paying for their protocol. I learnt that every time I let go, I attracted and left space for the right client.

Conclusion

  • Narrow down your niche and ideal client
  • Have forms in place to protect your website
  • Have a strategy
  • Establish an on line presence
  • Marketing
  • Mindset

 

I would be interested in hearing how your business is going.  Feel free to drop me a comment and share how things are going!

What you need on your website to make it legal

What you need on your website to make it legal

by | BLOG, Legal Aspects of Business

Every business has a legal aspect. The on-line space is no different.  You need to be aware of what you need on your website to make it legal.

How do you know what your need to make your website legal?

Disclosure: I am NOT an attorney. Always seek legal guidance if you are unclear or uncertain of any area regarding your business.  This post will provide information only and is not legal advice.

Put aside the idea that you get to work from your local coffee shop, spend more time with your family and make your own hours.  Until you have these legal pieces in place, you should not run an on-line business.

I created a quick list of those of you that love to be organized.  This list will help you make sure that you are on the right track and have everything in place!

The other thing to have in place is your insurance coverage as a health provider, you absolutely want liability insurance in place.

what you need to make your website legal

 

PAGES YOU NEED TO MAKE YOU WEBSITE LEGAL

A few pages that you want to consider to make your website legal are:

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookie

There are other legal forms that you may need depending on what you offer and your website.  If you plan on working with a VA (Virtual assistant for example you will want a contract agreement.  You may want to have sponsored posts (great way to make some extra cash), in which case you will need a sponsored post contract.

If you decide to guest post which is a fantastic way to gain back links, then you will need a guest posting agreement.

You cannot set up LLC in Canada but if in States or anywhere else you may require a document for that as well and can access that from a lawyer and even purchase a template on-line.  The key is making sure you are getting templates from a reputable lawyer that knows what they are doing.

 

RELATED INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY FIND USEFUL: How To Become An Online Health Coach 

 

DOES EVERYONE NEED LEGAL PAGES?

Before you publish your website, you should have the 3 most important pages set up.  The three are Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions and Disclaimer.  You cannot copy and paste someone else’s pages as that would be copyright and end you up in trouble.

 

 

I don’t recommend that you write your own either.  There are free places where you can download templates but unless you are a lawyer, you really cannot be sure that you have included everything needed or even written it properly.

If you cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, which to be honest most start up business’s can’t, you can find lawyers on-line that sell templates and that can be a good starting point for you.

I did a pile of research trying to find the right on-line templates to recommend to my students at Health Coach Creator.  I finally found Mariam Tsaturyan and you can see her available templates on her site..  Mariam is a lawyer but also a blogger so she understand the on-line space.  She also has knowledge of the health aspects required for health coaches and wording needed.

If you do purchase from Mariam, you will receive an e-mail from her with the key language that you need to add to make it effective for your exact needs.  If you still need more you can work with her to customize even further!

 

 

 

HOW TO COMMUNICATE POLICIES TO YOUR READER

You show your reader your various policies and procedure via pages that attach to each page of your site.

You can do this by having hidden pages on your site with your policies written on them.  Then linking your policies in the footer of each page on your site.  You will see some website add these page links to the top of there pages but I recommend the footer.

The idea for each legal page is to inform your reader of your intent, what you share, how you share it and how your site works etc

 

PRIVACY POLICY

Basically, a privacy policy tells the reader how you use the information that you obtain from them.  If they fill out a form or opt-in for example, the policy will let them know where that info goes and what you do with it.  You legally have to let the person reading the information on your site what you will use their information for; make sure you have this.  Do you plan on sending them e-mails with offers and information etc?

The policy will also share what platforms that you will use their information on, such as Kartra or Mailerlite etc.  If you purchase templates from a reputable lawyer than you will know that they are also in compliance with CAN-SPAM ACT and also GDPR compliant.

 

how to make your website legal

DISCLAIMER POLICY

A disclaimer essentially says that you wrote with good intent and can help reduce legal liability of your content.  The privacy policy should include a few things:  affiliate links such as Amazon and any wording that Amazon requires (make sure you check for any specific wording that needs to be added as your affiliate agreement and add that here).

If your post for example has affiliate links then you must legally state that at the beginning of your post so that they reader can see it before reading the content.  Being an affiliate means that you make money when someone buys something that you have recommended.  If you create a blog post and wish to share it on social media you must post it on the social media platform as well.

If you are sponsored to write a post than you must state that as well.  Even if you are given a product in exchange, you must still indicate that it is a sponsored post.

The disclaimer also shares that you are not a doctor or regulated professional (unless of course you are but if you are not, you want to state that).  You want to make sure that you are fully open and state you are not providing any legal advice, diagnosis, financial advice etc

Your disclaimer helps protect your blog regarding any products and/or services.

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The rules that you have around your sire/blog.  The terms and conditions explain to the reader what you allow and don’t allow within your own site.  Basically, when a reader comes on your site they are agreeing to your terms and conditions.

Within your terms and conditions you can list your refund policies, how you handle legal issues should they come about, copyright infringement etc.

Again, best to use done for you templates that can be customized to your needs by a reputable lawyer or meet with a lawyer to have these drawn up for you.

 

COOKIE LAW

Cookies law, although a funny name is for your UK visitors.  You will see this pop up and the bottom or top of websites asking the reader to agree.  You can use a plug in to add the cookie law to your WordPress site.

You can purchase these template at Mariam’s shop, customize them, add them to the footer of your website and feel assured that you have the right policies in place.

 

Make sure you have your policies in place before you start working with clients!

 

HOW TO ADD POLICIES TO YOUR WEBSITE

If you are using WordPress and I highly recommend that you do.  I wasted a ton of time with other platforms.  WordPress can feel overwhelming at first but it gets easy!

  1. All you have to do is go to the left sidebar on your WordPress site.
  2. Click on Appearance.
  3. Then click on Manage Location.

 

Adding policies to your wordpress site picture

 

 

CONCLUSION

You need to have liability insurance to protect yourself as well as have the proper policies on your website before you can begin working with clients or your are putting yourself and your business at risk.

Then, make sure that you have the 3 most important policies in place on each page of your website.  Speak to a lawyer if you aren’t sure.

If you found this article helpful, please drop me a comment and let me know!

 

How To Become An Online Health Coach

by | BLOG, Want to be a health coach?

The first thing that you need to be an online health coach is passion!  Really, to be an entrepreneur you need passion and to be an online entrepreneur you need to be passionate and determination.

It is not easy to build something from scratch.  The saying “if it was easy, everyone would be doing it” comes to mind…

You need to want it.  The idea of working from home, basking in the sun while you sip margarita’s while laying pool side is just a technique that business coaches do to lure you into the idea that being an entrepreneur is this glorious vision that anyone can achieve.

 

computer screen with ideal client & niche written on it

 

I mean don’t get me wrong, I day dreamt about the idea and fell victim to it many times while listening to podcasts filling my mind with the concept that if I just believe or manifest; it will come.  Reminds me of the movie “build it and they will come” except they don’t mention the having to build the flipping thing before “they” come and that it will take blood, sweat and tears…. lol

 

RELATED POST:  Feeling anxious about starting a new business –  Check out this article on MINDSET

 

WHO SHOULD START AN ONLINE BUSINESS AS A HEALTH COACH?

 

  • Someone who is passionate, we covered that.
  • Someone that is ok failing or maybe it is not ok failing….  You WILL fail and you have to believe enough in yourself that you can get up and try again and again until you discover what works for you.
  • Someone who is ok not having consistent money.  This is fairly standard for any entrepreneur, especially in the beginning.
  • Someone who enjoys being on a computer.  You may be able to hire out many tasks but there are still things that you need to do and they revolve around a computer.  It is an online business we are talking about after all…
  • Someone who enjoys to teach.  That is really what health coaches do.  Teach others various skills, techniques, strategies etc
  • Someone who is organized,  You cannot mess around with paperwork and you will have paperwork to do (even if on line) you have to be diligent in getting it done and having it organized.  People are sharing personal facts about themselves and those need to be handled accordingly.
  • Someone who enjoys working with other people.  Many people do not like working with others daily and so you want to look at that when starting out and act accordingly.  Maybe you don’t run group programs for example.

 

hands typing at laptop and flower and glasses beside

 

WHY WOULD SOMEONE BECOME A HEALTH COACH?

 

The number one reason to become a health coach is to help others.  That makes sense but there are other reasons as well.  We get lost in the help others to the point that we can loose ourselves.  I remember the first time I had someone write to me saying “how dare I charge people for health and say that I want to help people.

I was crushed…  honestly, I was devastated and thought about it for a long time.  I thought I should quite, that they were right.  I was so emotionally torn about it and it took me far too long to remember that I have bills to pay too.

To that point, a reason to become a health coach should be money.  In my opinion, it is not a bad thing to make or to want to make money and we spend an awful lot of time worried we don’t have enough or feeling bad for charging it.

You need to eat, pay your mortgage, kids activities, bills and so much more so it is ok to put that guilt away.

 

hands on laptop and sign up forms on screen

Another reason to become a health coach would be that you are truly interested in health.  That seems redundant however, loads of people work as hippo crates.  I am not talking about you having health issues or working on getting fit.  I am talking about running 5 day food challenges while you chow down pizza every night while off line.  People will see through it.

One other reason that I feel some do really well as health coaches is personal experience.  They have either gone through a health challenge or had a loved one go through a difficult health challenge.

 

WHAT SCHOOLING DO YOU NEED TO BECOME A HEALTH COACH?

 

You have a few options.  You need to obtain the proper level of Nutritional knowledge.  Seeing as now a days there are many different diets, health concerns and weight struggles you want to be extremely well versed in all of the areas of health.

You also need to learn how to teach seeing as that is what coaches do.

Having been a College Health Instructor for a decade myself, when I did do mu Nutritional schooling I found it hard to find a school that could teach me something that I didn’t already know.  I am trying to boast, that was simple the issue that I had when researching.

 

RELATED POST:  Not sleeping?  Read THIS –  To work with others you need to take care of yourself!

 

I recommend that you reach out to others and see how they felt about the curriculum.  If you look at Facebook groups you can find Health Coach groups and jump in and ask around to get input.

The school that I went with is Nutraphoria and I can honestly say that I loved it!

Coming from someone who already knew an awful lot in this field coupled with being in charge of creating curriculum that is a big deal for me to say.

I still visit there site to see what they have up and coming as far as courses.

They have a blog post dedicated to what to look for in an online school and I think they hit some nails on the head.

 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN ONLINE SCHOOL?

 

For me flexibility was key.  I was teaching full time, had 2 kids, husband that still wanted to be able to go out from time to time and a house to manage.

The second factor was the curriculum and did the courses in fact cover the vast information that I was wanting and at the level that I was seeking.  A sales page can be awfully deceiving so I recommend that you call the school up and have a long chat making sure to ask your specific questions.

Is the program accredited, this will mean that they have to maintain and reach certain guidelines governed by an overriding body.

Next, I look at the cost and truthfully although this is important, it should be your deciding factor.  Rather, you want to look at the value that the course gives you.  The more you learn, the more that you know and the more that you make in the long run.  The school will pay itself off eventually.

 

TECH NEEDED TO BECOME A HEALTH COACH

 

I cover all of this in detail in my course. 

You need to narrow down your niche and ideal client first before you can get anywhere online.  If you don’t know who you are speaking to, how can they find you?

Setting up a domain, host and then creating your WordPress site are the next steps in getting up and going.  You want your site up as soon as you can to build your domain authority.  That is really a thing, I had no idea until a couple years in business that I had not set my site up to even rank with Google and so no one was even finding it in a search….  ouch…

 

 

 

I cover domain/host and even how to set up your own site in my course, The Health Coach Creator as well.  I think it is so important to know your own business and so I think building it yourself is critical.  Do not let anyone tell you that you can’t…  It is not hard, it takes steps and a couple days and that is it…  I walk you through the whole thing HERE.

It can feel so overwhelming in the beginning…  Honesty, it can feel overwhelming in the middle too and that is ok.  It is also ok to ask for help, fire out or take a course to help guide you and save you some time.  There is no absolute way to work in this business and don’t be fooled by guru syndrome.  Just because it works for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you and there is trial and error that will happen.

You got this!

I would love to hear from you and where you are at.  Feel free to leave a comment and I will definitely get back to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

How I Got Rid Of Yeast Infections!

by | BLOG, Gut Health

Yeast infections plagued me for numerous years, lead to surgery and left me feeling hopeless and helpless.  Years later I finally found relief!  Life changing would be an understatement.  Life saving is my description!  I want to share what helped me so much.  I’ve partnered with Global Health Trax to share my story and how Threelac helped me!

I realize how extreme that sounds.  I know many people that have not suffered chronic health issues may think it impossible for something like this to help me so much.  

Some will suspect or insist that I am simply trying to sell a product.  Admittedly, the product that I am talking about I do support and I am an affiliate BUT I became an affiliate almost a decade after it helped me so much.

A lot of women suffer from yeast infections.  Some have had one and some have had many.  

 

UNDERSTANDING YEAST INFECTIONS

I remember a few times trying to explain just how bad my yeast infections were and women actually rolling their eyes at me.  One friend told me that it’s just part of being a girl and no biggy…

My heart felt like it was crumbling as I not only was trying to get my friends and family to understand but my healthcare team was not paying any more attention to my pleas.

  • The infections started when I was 15 years old…  
  • The only time I speak about this whole journey is in my private Facebook group.  In full transparency the reason is embarrassment. 
  • I am human…

 

closed eye with tear

 

I went to the doctors when I got my first yeast infection, she did a culture, told me to go ahead and use over the counter cream and they would confirm for sure in 1-2 days.  The next day they called and confirmed that it was yeast.

I wasn’t thrilled but knowing no better, used the cream and it went away.

Until 2-3 months later and the yeast infections were back.  I went back and repeated the same steps. That continued until I was 16 when they were monthly right after my monthly cycle.  Back and forth I went to the doctor and by then I could have recited what they would say to me. At this point I was giving diflucan and told to take it each month.  

RELATED POST:  What Causes Leaky Gut

Only 16 and going to each appointment on my own, I was instinctively uneasy with their reasoning that “some women just get them all the time”.

 

WHAT PRODUCT I USED TO GET RID OF YEAST INFECTIONS

I saw every doctor that I could within my healthcare team, in and out on a regular basis, they all recited the same spiel.

Some would tell me the basics, wear cotton white underwear, don’t wear a swimsuit after swimming don’t use hot tubs, eat yogurt and take your Diflucan.

 

question mark

 

Disheartened and uncertain I did as instructed to help deal with the yeast infections. I went on like this until I was 18 years old when they just wouldn’t go away anymore.

Writing this is a trigger as some will be aware that suffering chronically can cause anguish on the soul.  The journey seems relentless, long and burdensome as one goes through the trials, the attempts to find answers, the up and downs, remedies, medications etc.

By this time I had on going Diflucan as doctors suggested no longer coming in and to simply take my pill. I called when it didn’t go away and the suggestion was take another.  I did as instructed once again and not only did it not go away, it got increasingly worse.

Day after day it got worse.  The more I tried to explain what was happening to friends or family the more they looked at me as though I was weak.  “I mean… it is just yeast” I remember a specific family member saying as I turned to them for support.

I went to the doctor and after years of every single swab showing positive, it was negative.  Her answer, you don’t have yeast.

Even writing this, I pause, that is what my heart did that day.  

 

Candida

 

I asked what to do and she said nothing.  ALl of your cultures and tests are fine. Nothing is wrong with you.

Shock?  Confusion?  Numb?

Those are the best descriptive words that I have for how I walked out of that appointment.

The fact that my labs were fine and her expertise was I had nothing didn’t stop all the same symptoms that I was familiar with, other than now EVERY single day.

After seeing what felt like every doctor in the office, I even resorted to a trip to the ER…  Yup, I thought maybe they would have more extensive tests that could be run…

Lonely, young and so confused,  I tried researching and saw that found could be a factor although at the time their was not a lot to be found on it.  I decided to starve myself of all sugar, I essentially starved myself.

I thought if I don’t eat, it has to go away if yeast does in fact feed off sugar.  

It failed…  I was down to 90 some pounds and no further ahead.

I essentially pleaded with my doctor to be seen by a specialist.  I am sickened now that I was not referred to specialists long before when I think back but I was so young and had no knowledge or awareness of my options.

 

 

She agreed to refer me and I was thrilled, absolutely certain that I would be all better as soon as I got seen.  I waited the disgustingly long period of time that we do when feeling our worst and was told exactly the same thing.

In fact, the gynecologist was rough and rude.  She told me that all my labs were normal and that she could not explain why I had yeast like looking white discharge…  Yup, did I mention why I never shared this story in such a public manner.

I was trying so hard to work while all of this was happening,  I literally had become so ras that I could barely walk, the pain was unreal.  My boyfriend, now husband was great but as you can only assume this was no fun for our relationship.

After another attempt with my family doctor she asked me how my mindset was.  I was so angry, I answered by telling her I wanted a second specialists opinion.  She agreed BUT made it very clear that you only get 2…. REALLY???

Another several months pass and I got into see another gynecologist.  At this point I went to each appointment trembling, sick to my stomach and lost.

The most amazing thing happened.  The doctor walked in examined me and within a millisecond he said you have yeast.  I was thrilled and confused. He said you have a super strain and you never should have been on years of antifungals. 

After the exam, I got dressed and he came back in and chatted with me for a long while.  A real conversation, a real person talking to me.

He answered all of my questions and I had so many.  He explained that I had developed a super strain and become resilient to the meds that they had been given.  Unfortunately, the solution that we decided on was aggressive and again I was uneducated.  BUT, I had hope for the first time in as long as I could remember.

 

blue flower

 

I was put on 4 Nystatin a day for a long period of time and high doses of garlic and told to eat loads of yogurt and no sugar.  This didn’t change anything for me. I was washing every time I peed with baking soda rinse and nothing was helping. I was then put on 2 Keteconozole a day and at is tough on the liver.  I was on them for around 2 years BUT they took the yeast infections away. 

They took away the discharge but the pain, the pain was so bad.  I still had trouble walking and wore pants 2 sizes to big.

The specialist said that I would need surgery.  What?

I had scar tissue left from years of the yeast damaging the tissue.  I was terrified and that is an understatement.

I went ahead with the surgery and the recovery I compare to similar to childbirth now that I have that to compare to.

It helped so much, after a long healing period I was able to walk so much more comfortably.  I was still on the meds though and that lasted a while.

Finally, I had to take 3 month sick leave from work.  I realized during that period that I really should have taken time off way earlier and that I knew very little about health.

 RELATED ARTICLE:  Bacteria And The Gut

I started to research and became obsessed with finding a way to get off the meds.  Every time that I tried to even reduce ever so slowly, the feelings of yeast would be right back.  I tried diets, supplements and various remedies.

They all likely helped or didn’t in different ways but none were helping in a way that I could stop the meds.  I decided to look even more into probiotics and non worked.

I am sure that they may have been doing some good for my gut but non were helping on the level that I needed for this super strain that I was maintaining with the meds.

Diet wasn’t enough either and I hate saying that since I believe so much in the power of diet and foods.  That being said I needed something more.

After loads of research, I saw this product, read the reviews good and bad.  I was interested in Threelac but admittedly didn’t order it right away.  I was extremely wary and cautious in all my actions at this point and was becoming my own advocate.

As always, I ran the idea by my husband because I had already been through so much and truly appreciated the feedback.  He listened intently as he did with all the various options I tried or looked into.

I went back and forth to the Threelac website many many times, read and went through everything on the Global Health Trax website.

Finally, I ordered it.  I started it slowly and worked my way up and I felt a notable difference.  I felt stronger, it was a bit hard to explain at the time to be honest. Now, I can tell you that it was my gut healing but then I still lacked knowledge and any that I had was masked by fear.

After a long time on Threelac, I felt like I wanted to try weaning off the meds again and so I broke each tablet into 4 as I always did and started with going down to 3/4 tablet.  

I will tell you that I weaned off at turtle spread, months and months and months.  By the time that I was ready to wean off completely, I was terrified and taking the smallest morsel each day.

This is what the box looks like.  The probiotic comes in small packets.  I love this because it doesn’t need to stay in the fridge and that makes it really easy to travel with.

Threelac

The incredible thing was that the infections stopped.  As in stopped stopped. Not only did I not get another one when weaning off the heavy meds but once I got the courage to finally stop all meds, still no infections!

If you have suffered with anything chronic health wise than you know that you get to a point where you all but give up…  you start to try to just cope with each day and begin to let go of hope.

I not only had hope but I knew without doubt that the Threelac was what was helping me.  I was still uneducated in how it was keeping my yeast infections away and honestly, I didn’t care.

Now, I know so much more in regards to how Threelac works and how it re-balanced my gut ecosystem but then I was beyond happy to feel like a functional person again.

I will write again about how I fell ill again after the birth or my daughter and how Threelac once again after trying everything else was my answer.  I will also be written another post on the science behind Threelac as well so stay tuned.

Easy Homemade Crockpot Chicken Stock

Easy Homemade Crockpot Chicken Stock

by | BLOG, Nutrition and Food

 Health Benefits of Chicken Stock

An old solution to illness that has been used over decades.   The benefits of bone broth/stock are countless and every family should be aware of its beneficial effects.  Every time a member in my family is knocked down by illness, bone broth is one of our first steps back to wellness.

Your Grandparents probably ate soup more often than you do in your home now.  Not only was it an affordable option, went a long ways, it is one of the healthiest foods available.

During the cooking process it can look disgusting but the smell is incredible and cover the house with an auray of warmth.  Chicken stock is my number one suggestion for pretty near everyone that I work with.  The major difference being, if you have histamine intolerance, than you want to reduce your cooking time. 

Why do I  recommend this as a starting point?

Chicken stock is jammed packed full of nutrients and goodness.   The perfect balance of essential nutrients, healthy fats, minerals and anti-inflammatory proteins that your body is craving to make use of.   If you ever watch wild life documentaries, you may notice that the animal works quickly through the meat and straight to the bone and that is not only to sharpen those teeth of theirs but to get to the much needed nutrients

Chicken stock is simple to make and you can use a variety of herbs depending on where you are at with your gut health and your personal preferences.  Once your gut is more stable, you can move onto to bone broth which is essentially the same other than you are boiling the bones rather than the bones and meat. 

I personally like chicken stock but you can use almost any meat and they all have incredible nutrient value.   The most basic ingredients would be just chicken, water and salt but again as you continue to use this practice you will likely find yourself experimentling with various herbs.   

Let’s go over the simple steps:

1.  Boil a large pot of water (enough water to cover the full small chicken and an inch or so higher)

2.  Once the water is boiled,  I like to add 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt and then add in the whole small chicken.

3.  Turn the heat down to boil and add in 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.  The apples cider helps to pull out all the amazing essential nutrients.

If you have a histamine intolerance you want to boil for 3-4 hours max.  If not, it is a matter of what you like and taste.  I personal let it go on simmer for about 6 hours.  I add lots of salt and drink it in a cup throughout the day.

Once you get used to making stock and if you are getting tired of drinking it straight specific to gut health, you may want to play around with adding in veggies and creating various soups.  The colour of the stock will change depending on what kind of meat that you used as well as how long you let it coil for.  

 

After awhile in the fridge you will notice the broth congeals on the top.  That is a good thing!  It looks gross but that is where the bulk of the nutrititional goodness is.  When you heat it up, just stir the fat into the liquid and you will forget how awful it looked.  The taste is incredible!!!

 Chicken stock and bone broth both are made using the bones and joints of the animal and so the nutrients are pulled out.  Proteins are high ranking in chicken stock.  The pretein value can be up near 50%.  Gelatin is what makes that cool thick layer on top when in the fridge and although it isn’t a complete amino acid it does proline and other non essential acids that are also important.  Protein is imprtant for 

These proteins perform a variety of crucial functions. First of all, they give your body the raw materials to rebuild your own connective tissue, especially tendons (which connect muscles to bones) and ligaments (which connect bones to each other). It’s hard to overestimate how important this connective tissue is for overall health and strength. Professional powerlifters know that their bodies are only as strong as their weakest link: bulging muscles are useless if their tendons and ligaments are underdeveloped. And injury to these crucial tissues doesn’t just stall your deadlift progression. Think of tendonitis, or the overall “aching joints” that seem to accumulate with age. Definitely symptoms we all want to reduce or avoid if at all possible.

 

 

As well as providing the raw materials for healthy bones and joints, the proteins in bone broth deliver an especially interesting benefit for rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease marked by painful damage to the tendons and ligaments. Specifically, these proteins may actually help stop the autoimmune response in its tracks. One study found that chicken collagen dramatically improved symptoms in 60 patients; four of them showed complete remission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another benefit of bone broth for joint health comes from glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), a family of carbohydrates found in bones and connective tissue that show interesting effects in reducing joint pain. One of these GAGs, hyaluronic acid, is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis: it’s been mostly studied as an injection, but there’s also evidence that it’s useful when taken by mouth. Chondroitin sulfate is another GAG that has performed well in reducing the pain and damage of arthritis in several studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best-known GAG is glucosamine, which thousands of people take as a joint health supplement. Interestingly enough, the studies evaluating glucosamine + chondroitin supplements have produced conflicting and inconclusive results, and there seems to be a significant bias introduced by industry funding. However, one study compared glucosamine + chondroitin to plain collagen and found that the collagen was actually more effective, indicating that there might be something in the whole food that the supplements miss.

 

 

 

Whether it’s from the GAGs or the proteins, or the combination of all of them, the evidence is in: bone broth is a valuable supplemental food for all of us, and a delicious potential therapy for joint diseases. Especially if you play sports that put stress on your joints (anything where you have to run or jump on concrete, like basketball or jogging), your knees will thank you for adding a big mug of broth to your recovery routine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefits of Bone Broth: Digestion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature rarely seems to make foods that are healthy for only one reason, and bone broth is no exception. As well as keeping your knees free from disturbing crunchy noises every time you move, it also helps improve digestion in a variety of ways.

Glycine, for example, is useful because it stimulates the production of stomach acid. To judge from the billions of dollars Americans spend on antacids every year, you might think that this is the last thing we need, but in fact acid reflux may actually be a problem of too little stomach acid, not too much. For the full story, see this series; the short version is that a stomach acid deficiency leaves your food sitting there in your stomach, half-digested, and the pressure from your stomach being so full can force acid up into the esophagus.

By prompting your body to secrete more stomach acid, glycine can help prevent or treat this painful and potentially dangerous problem. This makes bone broth a delicious supplemental food for anyone suffering from acid reflux, IBS, or FODMAPS intolerance.

Adding to its metabolic virtues, glycine is also an important component of bile acid, which is necessary for fat digestion in the small intestine, and also helps maintain healthy blood cholesterol levels. Especially for people who are new to Paleo and switching from a carb-based to a fat-based diet, this has the potential to keep the digestive process running a lot more smoothly.

 

 

Glycine isn’t the only useful protein for gut health, either. Glutamine, another amino acid found in bone broth, is a natural remedy for “leaky gut,” that unpleasant and dangerous condition where the barrier between your gut and the rest of your body isn’t working properly, allowing molecules that should stay inside the gut to cross over into the bloodstream and potentially set of a cascade of autoimmune reactions. Glutamine helps maintain the function of the intestinal wall, preventing this damage from occurring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefits of Bone Broth: Detox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glycine also helps in detoxification – the actually meaningful kind, not the ridiculous nonsense about unspecified “toxins” and the necessity of removing them by embarking on long fasts or juice cleanses. None of those special cleanses are necessary, because your body has its own detox system: your liver. Glycine gives the liver a hand up in removing anything dangerous from the body – for example, in one rat study, rats fed glycine showed significant improvements in recovery from alcohol-induced fatty liver disease compared to rats that weren’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glycine is also necessary for the synthesis of glutathione and uric acid, the body’s most important endogenous antioxidants. As described in the article on antioxidants, boosting production of the endogenous (internally produced) antioxidants is much more useful for reducing oxidative stress than taking Vitamin C or other antioxidant supplements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet another detox-related benefit is that glycine helps clear out excess methionine, another amino acid found in large quantities in eggs and muscle meat. Methionine is an essential amino acid, but too much of it can raise blood levels of another amino acid called homocysteine, and the process of breaking down homocysteine increases the body’s need for B vitamins (thus increasing the risk of B vitamin deficiency even if your intake is adequate). Glycine from broths and cartilage can help break down homocysteine without the need for B vitamins. This is a perfect example of the wisdom of traditional cultures in eating every part of the animal: the proteins in the muscle meat and the proteins in the connective tissue balance each other out for 

 

 

Related Post:  HPA Axis Dysfunction and

 

 

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Talk with your doctor if you think that this is something that you would like to look into.

Hormone Imbalance Symptoms

F fat in the tummy area.  

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8.  Low Libido

Even though it really shouldn’t matter to us that much… it does..  Having 0 libido makes us feel like less of a women and less of a wife.  I don’t think any women is ok with not having a low libido let alone no libido.

9.  Anxiety & Depression:

I know I have said they all suck but if I had to pick the worst one this would be it.  After I had my daughter, I had the worst post pardum which is often a case of a drop of progesterone.  I have suffered horrid anxiety and depression and I wish it on no one.

Now what?  How do balance your hormones?

To Probiotic or To Not Probiotic… Bacteria and The Gut

To Probiotic or To Not Probiotic… Bacteria and The Gut

by | BLOG, Gut Health

Bacteria and The Gut

When I work with a client and it comes to probiotics my answer is never simple.  I use my intuition greatly as well as the clients feedback for clues when it comes to my recommendation for which probiotic would be best suited for them.  Some people, like myself, cannot tolerate any probiotic for a long while into the protocol.  

Many clients that I chat with are under the belief that they must “kill” off all the bad bugs and although we do want to rid the body of many of these culprits, it is not like we can go in with a nerf gun and have at it…

The idea is to push the bad bugs out by increasing the good.  We also want to look at which strains of good bugs do we want to add.  After all, too many good bugs can lead to bad things as well.   We want to think about all of the bi products that all the bacteria create as well as the fact that many of the by products are actually great at keeping inflammation down.

In one article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, according to the book Brain Maker ” These preventive  strategies are already well documented in high-profile scientific literature and can have a radical impact in reducing the incidences of the neurodegenerative illness.  Medical researchers already have knowledge that, if implemented, could slash the number of new Alzheimer’s patients here in the U.S. by more than half”.

What is it that this article was referring to in regards to prevention?  The Gut!

There have also been reports done suggesting that high blood sugar could be a serious factor to development of dementia.  I am talking about high blood sugar that is not considered on the diabetic radar yet.  

I am suggesting that rather than calling in reinforcements to pull the car out of the ditch (medication), perhaps we could slow down and pay more attention to the signs.

 

This is one product that I really like

 

Symptoms:

Why am I talking about blood sugar when I was talking about the gut?  The same reason that I talk about blood pressure, SIBO or anxiety…  Because they are connected and it is becoming more and more obvious that those with poor gut health are more likely to struggle with all areas of health, including mental health.  

I have been at the bottom, you know that ugly place where you thought you knew what depression is until you are actually experiencing it first hand and let me tell you, it was far from pretty.  Once I was completely submerged in it, I began to really research and see just how connected my gut health was in relation to my mental well being.  I am not a doctor and if you need medication, that is not for me to judge.  I would recommend though that you take a close look at your gut health as well.  

I have also had a long list of symptoms such as depression, IC, IBS, candida, chronic migraines, joint pain and so on.  My point is that almost any symptom can and likely is a direct result of the health of your gut.  There is obviously a lot more to solving the puzzle to your ongoing health concerns and it id not gut a matter of digestion but also absorption among other things.

So, where to start…? 

This is one product that I really like

Steps:

 

  1. Clean up your diet
  2.  Probiotic
  3. Water with sea salt