Good morning - Today is day 10 of Launch Your Health! I recommend taking some notes on how you feel, what works for you in the morning and the evening, and what you need to adjust. This 12 day journey is not the end. On Day 11 and 12 we will discuss next steps and options for maintaining wellness. I thought I'd share with you my journey to give you perspective on how impactful small changes can be on your health. This is not about perfection, this is not marketing, there is not a magic pill or a one plan fits all, but it is about foundational changes for long term health. (*Epsom salt/baking soda detox bath and additional movement video for lymphatic flow added to the end of the email.)

Healing Is Not Linear

One of the most important things I’ve learned in my personal and in my patients’ health is that healing is not a straight line. There are layers, pauses, progress, setbacks, and moments of clarity in between. Awareness itself is part of healing, even when symptoms haven’t fully resolved yet. Healing takes time, but making small deliberate changes can have a huge impact on your health. 


As a kid, I was rarely sick. During college, my health changed. I was constantly sick with chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, and asthma. In my junior year, I fainted in my dorm room from dehydration and then ended up hospitalized with pneumonia. That year, I had to leave school before finals as I was simply too ill to study. I saw countless specialists including Allergists, ENTs,and  Immunologists, but nothing really helped.  At 23, I began working with a Naturopathic Doctor in Chicago, and for the first time, someone looked at the whole picture. Through food sensitivity testing, dietary changes, and targeted herbal and supplement support, my health began to shift. Within weeks I felt improvement and within months I felt like myself again, strong, clear-headed, and energized. I went from hardly being able to run a mile without an inhaler to running half marathons and marathons. Looking back, I realized that my health declined after having epstein-barr virus, stress from college, and poor diet choices. It was the perfect storm.

Now, at 52 years old, I am so much healthier than I was in college. But, I continue to make changes and adjustments. Balancing my cortisol and female hormones, handling stress better, becoming a Reiki Master, taking specific supplements all helped my body maintain wellness as a perimenopausal woman. Lab testing has also helped my health and my patients' health as it can be a valuable tool to figuring out the cause. (List of labs I run in my practice at the bottom of the email.) As a Naturopathic Physician, I see my role as a detective and strive to identify root causes, triggers, and stressors that create imbalance, and then supporting the body’s innate ability to heal. This work isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about listening, responding, and adjusting.

If things haven’t felt perfect over the past 10 days, that is ok. What matters is what you’re noticing, what feels supportive, what feels challenging, and what your body is communicating. That awareness is progress. One phrase I hear a lot in my practice is:“I was never well since…” and that phrase matters. If you have a health struggle, think about that phrase as it can be a starting point.

Morning Checklist

  • BREATHE:  5 DEEP BREATHS 

  • Hydration:  Hot water, lemon, salt and pinch of cayenne.  Then coffee or tea.

  • Movement: Even when it is snowy, icy, and cold, movement is non-negotiable. 

  • Nutrition: Add beets and herbs to salad, blueberries to your morning smoothie, or  spinach to every meal. Start to think about staples at the grocery store. 

Evening Checklist

  • DETOX Bath:  1/2 cup of epsom salts  ½ cup of baking soda. Feel free to add essential oils.

  • Journal Entry:  What 3 changes have you made that you will continue?  Does the phrase "never well since" resonate with you?

  • LABS

  • hs-C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP

  • Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

  • Homocysteine (specific for heart disease)

  • Other markers are available to test (IL-6, IL-17, TNF-alpha), however, these markers can change very quickly and may not be accurate  

  • Autoantibodies (thyroid, ANA, celiac, RF) 

  • Infections (Lyme and co-infections, EBV, mycotoxins)

  • Omega 3 Fatty Acids

  • Food allergy and sensitivity

  • GI- microbiome 

  • Adrenal Stress Index Test

  • Dutch Test: cortisol, estrogen, progesterone. testosterone

  • Minerals