As a functional medicine practitioner, I get asked this question all the time: “Where do I start?” Our clients range from seeking overall wellbeing and nutrition to dealing with severe issues such as autoimmune Hashimoto. They might have joint pain, headaches or migraines, concerns with gut health and irritable bowel (IBS), high blood pressure, and high cholesterol just to name a few.
We are inundated with pop-ups and posts and articles and emails ALL giving us suggestions about how to improve our health. At Victress, we focus on personalized care, however, there are certainly some basics that we can all focus on in order to establish a foundation. Let’s break down some of these suggestions and give you a general plan of where to begin. Start slowly and where you can make the greatest impact.
- Sleep. Yes, sleep. Our bodies can’t recover and rebuild without sleep. Generally, research shows that 7-9 hours of sleep is optimal. Most of our clients initially come to us sleeping somewhere between 5-6.5 hours and we will work with them to increase gradually. Obviously, quality matters, so if snoring or frequently waking up in the night is an issue for you, don’t wait to work on getting to the bottom of why this is happening. Starting with your Primary Care Physician and investigating the underlying cause is much more optimal than adding a supplement or a pill to “patch” the problem.
- Visit your Primary Care Physician for a Basic Lab panel. If you haven’t been to the doctor in years, it’s time to go.We know that basic lab work can help us identify underlying causes to a myriad of conditions. And that visiting your primary care provider will help with prevention of some pretty awful conditions: Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, strokes, etc. BUT, basic labs can also help us get to the root cause of other issues such as fatigue, skin issues, headaches, low energy, and the list goes on! If you need help finding a great provider, our recommendation is always to seek out a Direct Primary Care (DPC) provider in your area. Because patients pay a low monthly fee for access to the provider, the focus of each visit will be on your wellness and not on just adding another pill or only being able to spend time on one problem. https://mapper.dpcfrontier.com/ for DPC clinics in your area. We recommend (at minimum): CBC, CMP, vitamin D, cortisol, magnesium, A1C, fasting glucose, cholesterol, thyroid panel, estrogen (women) or testosterone (men).
- Address the Stress. As practitioners, if a client presents with poor ability to respond to stress, we won’t be able to make much of an impact no matter what other changes we implement. Simply put: if we don’t work on our ability to cope, our health suffers. BUT, there is so much hope. The simple act of forgiveness has been shown to virtually eliminate any risk of mental illness even in those with high lifetime stress. Check out our free course for more: Healing the Mind with Dr. Joe.
- Move. It’s that simple. Humans aren’t meant to sit all day. No arbitrary 10,000 steps rule. Just get up and move. Even just pushing yourself for 3, 20 second intervals has been shown to improve cardiometabolic health!
- Cut the Sugar and Processed Foods. Processed foods are a huge part of our culture and due to the additives, sugar, and seed oils, are making us fatter and sicker. Think of a few areas where you can eliminate one or both. I love to change out the granola/cereal bar for breakfast for a more filling and nutritious option. Egg cups are easy to make ahead and pop in the microwave for an on the go breakfast. Or try pumpkin muffins made with almond flour for a slightly sweeter option.
Maybe you’ve made some of these changes or maybe you are just feeling stuck. We provide free consultations for this exact reason. If we aren’t able to help you, we will work to direct you to someone who can. Here locally in the Anna, Botkins, Minster, Sidney, or Shelby county area we would be happy to have you come in and meet our providers. From our primary care team to our therapists and functional medicine practitioners, our job is to help you get to the root of your health problems.
Forgiveness: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/ce-corner
Move: https://mentalstrength.com/2021/07/10/how-a-20-second-sprint-a-45-minute-run/
Cut the Sugar: https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2021-068921