Real-life Client Struggles

This week I want to share with you a real-life client story – let’s call her Allison.

Allison came to me after years of trying to do “all the right things” but still struggling. I actually remember talking to her 2-3 years prior about the same issues. But it wasn’t until perimenopause really stacked on top of her already high stress load that she felt like she could no longer function.

She’s a mom, running her household, and she just didn’t have the capacity to show up for herself and her family.

Despite doing her best to eat well, hit the local boot camp style workout class 3+ times a week, utilize acupuncture, and take supplements – she was struggling HARD.

Unfortunately, I see this all the time.

About “Allison”

Allsion was 48 at the time and on hormonal birth control (HBC). Since starting it, she rarely cycled so she wasn’t really sure if she was in perimenopause or not.

She also struggled with mental health, so her doctor had her on a SSRI.

She felt tired – all of the time – was constantly bloated, and was dealing with irregular bowel movements.

There was no lack of effort on her part! But she was just plain miserable.

What You Think it Is

When clients like Allison come to me, they often think it’s one of the following:

• Just something they are eating (after trying multiple elimination diets)
• Just hormone changes (its rarely just this!)
• Not exercising enough (without realizing this can actually add more stress load)

What’s Really Going On

As I’ve talked about over the past couple of weeks, its never just one thing that pushes the body into this level of symptom overload.

It’s the accumulation of stressors.

For Allison, that looked like:

• Blood sugar swings
• Inflammatory foods
• Overall stress load that her body couldn’t keep up with

Real Changes in Lab Markers

Blood Sugar Markers

Her glucose was technically in range, but a deeper look at her C-peptide told a different story.

C-peptide can be a more reliable marker for fasting insulin because it has a longer half-life (it stays in the body longer). An optional range is 1-2.1 ng/mL and Allisons was 2.4 ng/mL.

She was starting to show patterns similar to early insulin resistance.

Cardiovascular / Lipid Markers

Her LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were all elevated – many even outside of standard lab ranges.

For example, her triglycerides were 144 mg/dL where an optimal range is 50-100 mg/dL.

Here is the powerful part:

With consistency and a personalized plan, Allison was able to bring both of these markers (and many others) back into optimal range in just 4 months.

Value	May 2024	Sept 2024	Optimal Range
C-Peptide	2.4	1.9	1 – 2.1 ng/mL
Triglycerides	144	68	50 – 100 mg/dL

What We Did

Allison had very little capacity for a long list of rules or restrictions.

So we kept it simple.

We decided to move forward with a gut-focused approach based on her symptoms and patterns in her bloodwork, and skipped food sensitivity testing altogether.

Here’s what we focused on:

• Slowly implementing a Paleo-style approach for 3 months
  • To support blood sugar balance & remove processed foods
• A basic gut rebalancing protocol
• Backing off the intensity of her workouts during this time

Honestly…that was mostly it!

It can truly be that simple.

Over time she chose to work with her doctor to successfully come off of her SSRI and HBC.

That gut-brain connection for the win again!!

This paired w/ a sustainable “Paleo-ish” approach, she’s been able to maintain how she feels long-term.

What Shifted for Allison

• Return of her energy
• More capacity to handle daily stressors
• Improved digestion
• Reduced inflammation (less puffy overall)
• Weight loss (what a great side effect of this work)
• Improved mood

Why This Works

My role was to guide Allison on implementing the foundations in a way that actually fit her life.

From talking through restaurant menus helping her tune into what feels good in her body – we navigated it together.

It was about meeting her where she was and implementing a truly individualized plan.

We had regular support sessions every 2-3 weeks, along with messaging in between for the day-to-day decisions.

That’s where the real magic happens.

If you have been feeling like Allison – like you’re doing everything right but you still feel like your on the struggle bus – I’d love to support you too.

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P.S. If you’re feeling unsure where to start, I offer free discovery calls. It’s simply a conversation to help you decide what support might make sense for you.

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This is not medical advice and not intended to treat or cure any disease or affliction. Please consult your medical professional before utilizing the techniques and tools listed above.

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