How to Use Functional Medicine to Heal and Optimize Your Health with Christine Forsythe

Today, in the Scheer Madness Podcast, we welcome back Christine the Dietitian, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian at Rachel Scheer Nutrition. Previously, we talked about overcoming PCOS, the functional approach to weight-loss resistance, and how fats play a role in hormone and blood sugar support. Now, she helps explain the difference between Western and functional medicine, the benefits of preventive approach to addressing long-term health issues, and why healing the body starts with uncovering what’s making it sick.   

For more information about working with our team at Rachel Scheer Nutrition, book a free 30-minute call at www.rachelscheer.com/application 

You can also check out Scheer Health: PCOS, Hormones, and Nutrition Tips with Christine the Dietitian

Chapters:

• 00:00 Intro
• 03:09 How does food interact with the body?
• 09:03 Difference between Western and functional medicine
• 24:42 Preventative approach to long-term health issues
• 29:58 When people think it’s normal to have certain symptoms
• 32:03 All about blood sugar balance and regulation
• 48:27 How important is your healing for you?  
• 59:05 “Nothing good ever comes without sacrifice.” 

Connect with Christine:

• Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram 

Connect with Rachel:

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Podcast Transcript:

Christine Forsythe: And, you know, I think there is such a difference between knowledge and action. Like you can know, and you can understand what you need to do, but if you’re not taking action, if you’re not doing those things every day, you’re still not gonna get to the place that you need to be. 

Rachel Scheer: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

But if you are ready to level up your life and get results that truly matter in your health business mindset and relat. Then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to shared madness where we have unscripted real conversations with the world’s top athletes, entrepreneurs, and coaches discover real world and tactical advice from the best in the business.

Let’s go, Hey everyone. And welcome back to another episode of sheer madness. I am bringing back on the show today, Christine, the dietician, she flew all the way out here from Dallas, Texas to beautiful Southern. Southern California. and, um, we’re actually here for our Rachel share nutrition retreat that we’re doing this weekend.

Yeah. We’re gonna be doing some surfing. We’re gonna be doing a lot of team building sauna, ice bath. So it’s gonna be a, a ton of fun. Yeah. But I wanted to bring you back on this show here today because you are my head coach at Rachel. She nutrition. There we go. She, you guys, she crushes it, but we have been really talking about, you know, what functional medicine really is.

And I think something that is pretty great is how well known. Functional medicine really has become. Yeah. And we’re a functional medicine nutrition practice, and we’re gonna dive into a little bit today what that really means. But a lot of things that we really try to emphasize with our practice is how we can heal instead of just deal.

Yeah. Deal with the symptoms, deal with these diagnosis that are really just a bandaid to manage these symptoms. And what’s really different about our practice that we do here at Rachel shoe nutrition and our approach. So thank you for coming on the show today. 

Christine Forsythe: Again. Absolutely. Thank you for having me happy to be here.

Happy to be in sunny, Southern California. I was telling Rachel the other day, I feel like I was meant to be a California surfer girl at you. Like, so wearing the pink today. Mm-hmm harnessing, harnessing, not California energy, but happy to be here. Excited to dive into this topic that we have here today.

Mm-hmm so thanks for having me on. 

Rachel Scheer: again. Yeah. So I wanna just start with diving into a little bit of your story and what brought you into functional medicine in the first place. Because one of the things that I think is so cool about our practice is all of our coaches really do have a story. I have my story with all of my gut issues, almost having my large intestine removed, you know, going the Western medicine route, not really getting a whole lot of answers, then really turning towards functional medicine, doing my own research, but also really realizing the power that food has to really heal our body.

Mm-hmm so, um, share with the listeners a little bit about like what your story looked like. Yeah. And what brought you more into the functional medicine side? 

Christine Forsythe: Absolutely. So I feel like the best place to start sometimes is the. So I grew up in a very health conscious family. My father is a physician. My mom is a nurse.

So health was always a big part of our family. You know, my mom would always take me to the grocery store and educated me on how to read a nutrition label, which is so interesting because I feel like a lot of people, even today still don’t really understand how to do that. Mm-hmm so I was very blessed to have that experience growing up.

Mm-hmm but also, you know, the more kind of versed I became in nutrition and the more that interested I became, the more fascinated I became as well. But also too, with that, when I was in high school, I started to kind of notice. You know, some things that were a little bit abnormal. So I actually didn’t, uh, end up getting my first menstrual cycle until I was in college.

Which for any woman, as you know, that’s definitely very abnormal. Yeah. That’s pretty light. Yeah. And so I went to several different doctors. I went to specialist, I went to children’s doctors, adult doctors, and they were all like, oh, you’re just really lean. You’re a gymnast. You’re a cheerleader. It’s totally normal that you haven’t gotten your cycle.

Mm-hmm yet. But I knew in. My heart of heart’s in the depth of my soul, that I was like, this isn’t normal. Mm-hmm , you know, maybe it’s common for somebody to experience this, but it isn’t normal. And so that was kind of when my eyes were opened up a little bit, and I saw that, you know, this route of Western medicine didn’t necessarily have a way.

Helping me figure out why my body was doing this, which was the most frustrating thing. And so then I kind of started to have to do a little bit of my own research into, you know, how does food interact with the body? Are there different nutrients that I could be deficient in? Cause the story that I heard was either you just need to gain weight and you’ll get your cycle or let’s put you on birth control and you’ll get your cycle very common fix.

Oh my gosh. And it was just like this bandaid. And I became so frustrated because I was like, my body didn’t just one day decide, oh, we’re just gonna stop working. Right? Like there’s a reason as to why I was experiencing these things. And several years later kind of fast forward, I was actually diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is pretty common for a lot of women.

I wanna say the statistic is one in 10. Maybe it’s even more. Now that it’s become a little bit more well known, but polycystic ovarian syndrome. Again, isn’t necessarily an answer. You know, I finally had a diagnosis, so I had a name, I had a label to put on what I was experiencing, but it still didn’t tell me why.

And so I was left frustrated time after time again and again, which again, kind of led me to functional medicine. And I started to dive into nutrition and learning about blood sugar balance, which is one of my main passions to talk to my clients. And as you know, blood sugar balance, I feel like I’m the blood sugar queen, because it’s so important and food can either be the thing that heals you or the thing that hurts you as well.

And so I think, you know, getting into functional medicine and actually finding that root cause of why my hormones were imbalanced, led me to where I am today. Yeah. 

Rachel Scheer: And I, you said so many important key things there and one of the big ones being like you got the diagnosis, which so many of us do get that diagnosis.

I got the diagnosis of IBS, irritable bowel sender, and we see a lot of people get the diagnosis of, Hey, you have an autoimmune condition. You have Hashimotos, you have ulcerative colitis or you have polycystic ovarian syndrome. And it tells us the what, but it really doesn’t tell us the why. Yeah. Why do you have this in the first place?

And what can we do to really heal? Like I said, at the beginning, instead of just deal with a lot of these symptoms and part of it, what, like the answer for you was here, maybe just put on some weight or, you know, Birth control, which is a synthetic hormones. Yeah. That really just suppresses your body’s own natural hormones and doesn’t really fix anything.

Yeah. So I can imagine how frustrating that is. And, um, you guys, Christine mentioned a little bit about blood sugar balance because that plays such a key role in balancing out your hormones. And we actually did a previous podcast all about blood sugar balance. Yeah. So we will definitely tag that here in the show notes, but I think your story is very, very common.

Definitely not normal. Like you said, there, like that shouldn’t be the point that we have to really get to ultimately, but it is common that a lot of women really do have a very similar experience. They’re like something is off in my body. I don’t really know what, you know, I’m gaining weight. Um, you know, I’m chronically fatigued all the time.

My mood is really unstable. I have acne. Yeah. Um, I’m constantly bloated. I can’t use the restroom or maybe I’m running to the restroom way too much. And we do as. We were taught to do, and we go to our primary care physician mm-hmm or maybe we do go to a specialist, you know, I know I went to a gastro. I’m not sure if you went to, 

Christine Forsythe: like, I went to an endocrinologist.

Yeah. Even a reproductive endocrinologist. So we went, really specific 

Rachel Scheer: and you’re like, I’m gonna go to the best. Uh, who’s the expert in this field. Yeah. And it still is kind of like basic testing. Right? Mm-hmm basic testing and then giving you the label and even with polycystic ovarian syndrome, for those who are listening, like there is many different.

Of polycystic ovarian syndrome. So even if you get that, that label of it, it still doesn’t really tell us why. And that why really at the core is the root cause, which is a lot of what we’re gonna dive in today, which, you know, what really is functional medicine. So, you know, let, let’s start with defining, you know, what the difference is between functional medicine and a lot of like what we do mm-hmm and between Western medicine, because I also do think, you know, there’s really nothing wrong with Western medicine.

Yeah. And I know we have that belief system, but I think where the frustration really comes from, and I know like where it came from from me is not really knowing who to go to for what, like we need Western medicine. Oh my gosh. A hundred percent. Yes. It is amazing. It is incredible. Yeah. But I think when it comes to a lot of these chronic health issues, mm-hmm, hormonal imbalances sometimes, you know, thyroid issues that, um, gut issues, um, mood issues to mm-hmm, , it’s a chronic condition that is brought on.

Lifestyle by diet, by, you know, other things that can definitely be off in the body, but really a combination between all of those different things. Mm-hmm um, so it’s really just knowing who to go to for what, and also, I think what role as, um, you know, clients, patients walking into these people, what, what our job also really looks like.

So yeah. Let’s talk a little bit about that. I know. Um, you had kind of brought up some things even before this podcast about, you know, what functional medicine is. Yeah. So let’s start with some of 

Christine Forsythe: those. Yeah, absolutely. So I would say the biggest difference between conventional Western medicine and functional medicine is the approach that is taken.

So conventional Western medicine very much is a symptom based approach. So they say, okay, you have this symptom, what medication can we give you that will. Quote deal with that symptom versus functional medicine. We do still, you know, kind of look at the symptoms and we say, okay, what are the different symptoms that you’re having, but why are you having those symptoms?

And so it’s taking that next step and asking that next question, but kind of to your point, you know, I really believe that functional medicine and Western medic medicine should be able to work in tandem. You know, mm-hmm, like, I always say having multiple pairs of eyes on somebody is gonna give you the best result.

And so we’re not here to say, like you said, that Western medicine is bad or that functional medicine is better. They’re just different. But when it comes to those chronic conditions, so things like weight, gain, diabetes, gut issues, hormonal imbalances, those are things. that aren’t gonna be able to be fixed, like an infection would with a medication or like a broken arm.

Like if you have a broken arm, please don’t come to see me. I cannot help you. go see your doctor. They’re gonna be able to help you so much better. But when it comes to addressing why some of these different things are happening, you have to be able to take that deeper dive. And so, especially with functional medicine and our practice specifically, you know, I think where we really differ is the relationship that we have with our patients and with our clients.

You know, it’s not transactional, it’s not okay. It’s nice to see you see you for 10 minutes, hear about your different concerns and then come back within six months to a year and we’ll chat again. You know, we are following up with our clients consistently. We see them on a monthly basis. Mm-hmm . And so I would say that that to me is one of the biggest differences is that relationship 

Rachel Scheer: with people.

Yeah, yeah. 100%. And I think it’s also too, to your point, it’s very us kind of co-working together. And, you know, I think even for clients who come in to see us very often, you know, and have that expectation that is very similar to maybe an experience with the doctor, Hey, these are my issues. And they’re like, boom, boom, boom.

We’re gonna do this. Here’s the pill for you to take? I mean, there’s not a whole lot of. Things that the patient really has to do necessarily on their end besides, you know, set a time where pop this pill every single day. Um, and a lot of what we do does require us to really kind of co-create mm-hmm the plans and the protocols together.

Of course, I think we are interpreting right. The lab results were we’re creating the nutrition plan, but at the end of the day, the nutrition plan has to fit in with our, our client’s lifestyle. Yeah. So we do a lot of, um, you know, building that relationship to figure out, okay, what does this need to look like for you?

So you may have these rude issues. This may be the best dietary approach for you based off of these rude issues, but you’re somebody who’s, you know, an entrepreneur you’re busy, you’re on the go, you’re an athlete. Um, your goal is to lose a little bit of. You know, these are all different factors where, you know, we have to create the meal plan.

You maybe somebody who’s like, I absolutely just like hate, uh, fish. Like I just hate fish. That was like me growing up a hundred percent. Like, I, I loathed, you know, seafood, so we’re not gonna put together a plan and a protocol. That’s like, Hey, you’re, you’re low in your omega three. So I need you to eat salmon EV you know, multiple times per week.

Yeah. Um, of course that would be great, but then that’s where we would need to figure out okay. Let let’s supplement instead. Mm-hmm . Um, but I think a big part of that relationship too, is also, um, really understanding that person’s history, um, quite a bit as well. Yeah. And you know, where even. Some of these issues have been able to stem from the first place.

Like I know from myself, like with my gut issues, I may have gotten the diagnosis of IBS. And then through testing this reveal that I had bacteria and bounces in my gut mm-hmm I had some leaky gut. Um, and this led to a lot of my symptoms, like the bloating, the distinction and all of that. Yeah. But my history and my lifestyle really revealed why I developed these issues in the first place.

Right? Yeah. So it, my chronic stress and, um, you know, body building lifestyle that I was living in, put a lot of physical stress on my body. Um, my diet that I was eating that was full of what I call diet foods, artificial statements. Oh my gosh. All of that, um, was also negatively impacting my gut. Yeah. So a lot of that relationship came down to, um, you know, Really determining these are my root causes.

And although we found which no one else had been able to find like that my bacteria was off that I had intestinal permeability and that was leading to my symptoms, doing a protocol to just like eradicate that wasn’t really enough for me. I had to deal with my stress. I had to deal with, you know, my over-training.

I had to really work on changing my diet. And I think that’s what really we’re speaking to. Right. When we say the relationship part of it all, because that can’t happen in like a 15 minute, even 30 minute session with some, and it’s something that is more. Coaching based mm-hmm in a really, really ongoing ultimately.

Yeah, absolutely. 

Christine Forsythe: And I would say that so often, you know, this is even something that I continue to learn every day is your health is about so much more than the food that you put in your body. Or the workouts that you’re doing, right? Like we have, you know, nutritional health, we have our physical health, but we also have mental health and emotional health and spiritual health.

And so something that I like to tell my clients is we wanna think about a Teeter totter. So say that you have a Teeter totter and on one end is your nutrition. And then it’s kind of your physical health and then mental, emotional, spiritual health. Mm. If you are focusing so heavily on that nutritional and physical health, that end of the Teeter totter is gonna shoot way up, but then what’s gonna happen to the rest of it.

It’s gonna shoot way down. Mm-hmm . And so if we’re only focusing on like these two aspects of health, but we’re not addressing, you know, kind of to your point, the other side of that health, that teeter-totter is gonna remain imbalanced. And so. In order to find that healing, we have to do some of that work and say, okay, this is where you’re at now, but where have you come from?

What different events in your life have led you to the place that you’re at? You know, what are some of your different stressors? What are your different triggers? You know, maybe you have some trauma that we need to address. And so again, you know, that relationship and really digging a little bit more. Is where we actually find that true healing.

Yes. The lab test results are so essential. Yes. Your diet and nutrition is so essential. But if we’re just focusing on that, we’re doing you a disservice. And so that’s really where we like to bring in all those different things, cuz it does have such a role to play in our health. 

Rachel Scheer: 95% of your body’s serotonin is produced by the bacteria that resides in your gut.

And this explains why when my gut was erect or when clients come to work with me at Rachel shear nutrition, they don’t just suffer from things like bloating, constipation, diarrhea. But they also have symptoms of anxiety, depression, and brain fog because our gut and our brain are highly interconnected.

And as hypocrites says, all disease begins and ends in the gut. And this is the exact reason why I am so passionate about taking a functional root cause based approach for any chronic health condition, gut issues, mental health illness, autoimmune conditions, stubborn, weight loss, you name it. Me and my team do a comprehensive analysis, looking at all these different systems so we can test instead of just guess, and then develop a customized nutrition plan in protocol to address these root causes and balances in the body and restore function.

If you wanna book a free 30 minute call with anyone from my team, Click the link in the show notes or visit Rachel shear.com about 100%. And that’s like where we get people who reach out to us because we do run all of this extends to testing. And one of the big things that does differentiate functional medicine from Western medicine, right, is all of the testing that we’re doing.

So we’re looking at the microbiome, we’re looking for, you know, intestinal, permeability, digestive, enzymes, toxins. We’re looking at your hormones, um, how you’re metabolizing these hormones even. Yeah. Um, toxins in the body deficiencies, which is really looking at all these different body systems. But one thing that I really see where a lot of other functional, um, practitioners kind of dropped the ball, I would say with a lot of their clients that they’re working with, um, is just running all of these extensive labs and then just still giving someone either a medication.

Yeah. Or really giving somebody just like a laundry list of supplements. Mm-hmm . And like, to your point, what you’re saying is like, you know, there’s all of these different. You know, areas of health and what that looks like, which also means all of these different areas of health are really gonna play a massive role in our bodies’ ability to heal.

So we can see everything that’s set off in the labs, take all of these supplements. But if we’re chronically stressed all the time, if we’re not getting good sleep. Yeah. You know, if we’re in a really unhealthy relationship and we have like terrible boundaries in our life. Yeah. You know, trauma, like you even mentioned too, where, where our body’s constantly going into a state of fight or flight very, very rapidly because it’s being triggered by the past.

Like it’s gonna be really, really hard to heal our gut heal our hormones. Yeah. And address a lot of these different things. So I think it is, um, so crucial that you mention more of like that holistic approach to ultimately health. Um, and how important that really is. Because I think a lot of people, like we’ve had it before, where they reach out to us and is like, Hey, can I just do all of the lab testing and because they can’t get it done at their doctor.

Right. They’re like, this is cool. This is awesome. I wanna do a gut microbiome test. I wanna do the food sensitivity test. I wanna look at all of my toxins and we’re like, No, because you’re gonna get that information and what are you gonna really do with that information? Yeah. And part of it is really that coaching and that relationship part kind of going back to what you were saying earlier, which is why that is so key to really, really heal and why it’s not like a one month quick fix, ultimately.

Yeah. Um, and I know we do build on the relationship over time. So like one of the first things and the easiest things, in my opinion to change is like diet for yes and foremost, at least not, I won’t say always easy. Like for a lot of us, it can be hard. Like, especially if we don’t have the best relationship with food, we have a fear for food.

We have food addiction, but typically a lot of like what our approach really looks like is, you know, addressing a lot of the dietary component first and foremost, and you were telling me last night, like you get a lot of people too, who we do the first month changing diet. and then we do the lab results after and they’re like, well, I didn’t really change my diet because I wanted the labs back 

Christine Forsythe: mm-hmm first

Yeah. Yeah. So kind of like what you were saying. Yes. Nutrition is so important and sometimes I’ll have clients come in and they’re like, Okay. I’m I’m ready to get started. I’m ready to address my health. Mm-hmm , I’m so excited to do all of these different labs. Like let’s go. And then, you know, in the first month we’re waiting for those lab test results to come back and we have to lay the foundation.

You know, it’s kind of like building a house. If you don’t have a solid foundation, that house is gonna crumble. It’s not gonna matter how amazing the house is. You know, how amazing your constructor or architect, whatever was, if that foundation isn’t solid, that house is gonna crumble. And so that is what your nutrition is.

But sometimes, you know, I know that we can like to see the numbers or like wanna have the information. And so clients will come back and they’re like, yeah, you know, I didn’t really follow the nutrition. It was just kind of hard cuz I don’t know exactly. Off within my body. And so I just wanted to see the lab test results and I’m like, okay, I totally understand.

Here are the lab test results. Let me go over all of this for you, but let’s go back to those recommendations that I gave you month one, and let’s get consistent on the nutrition again. Yeah. Because it does have such a role to play and. Kind of like, what you were saying is our body is a system. And so if we’re just honing in on one area of the body, but we’re not looking at the body as a whole, whether that be with your nutrition, whether that be with your exercise or your mindset or some of the different trauma, or even coming down to the different lab tests that we do, cuz it is very extensive.

It is a lot of information. We can’t just look at one specific area and say, oh, this, this is what’s off. This is what’s causing your issues. We have to look and say, okay, There’s some micronutrient deficiencies that are happening and you’re not sleeping and you have leaky gut and you have these heavy metal toxicities and you have terrible boundaries within your relationship.

And so it’s like all these different things and it’s like, okay, what do we need to focus on? How can we kind of mm-hmm , you know, heal from the inside out truly. Yeah. 

Rachel Scheer: It’s, it’s really in a lot of ways, like a life coach mm-hmm like, if we were to like, change the name, like to be honest, like we end up being life coaches for oh my God.

Of people. Yeah. But with running some more extensive testing and having very specific protocols to try to help bring back homeostasis or balance back into the body as well too. Um, one thing that I’ve, I’ve really heard you talk about too, is how this can be very preventative for a lot of people. And, um, in what ways, in like your opinion, do you feel.

Our approach, you know, with everything that we’re doing is really gonna be preventative from long term type health issues. Because a lot of people, I think, have the thoughts even coming in like, well, I don’t have anything necessarily like wrong with me. You know, I don’t have any major symptoms necessarily, but we do get a lot of people who are high performers entrepreneurs who just really want to see, you know, what could potentially be off in the body, but take a little bit more of a preventative approach and, you know, Western medicine, isn’t really gonna be a preventative approach.

It’s kind of like treat, you know, Medicaid and manage versus how would you describe, you know, Western or functional medicine? Yeah. 

Christine Forsythe: So with Western medicine and a little bit more of that treatment approach, you’re just waiting until. Something goes wrong, right? Mm-hmm , you know, you get diagnosed with diabetes or you have this chronic condition and then you go see the doctor, but it’s like, what if we took 20 steps backwards and said, okay, what is going to lead me to that place?

And how can I stop that from happening? Because with a lot of the clients that come to us, you know, what we have to remember is all of the experiences in your life have brought you to where you’re at now. And so kind of moving forward, if you continue down that path, it’s also gonna have its own consequences.

And so really kind of saying, okay, maybe I’m not necessarily. Let’s take diabetes, for example, just cuz I would say that that’s pretty applicable. Let’s say that I’m not diabetic, but maybe I’m prediabetic. We don’t have to wait until you get that diagnosis of having diabetes, because with any health condition, it’s a spectrum kind of like I said, at the beginning, your body doesn’t just one day say, okay, we’re gonna have diabetes now.

Like that’s not how it happened. It’s not like a light switch. Yeah, exactly. It it’s a spectrum and it kind of leads to that. And so. Instead of waiting until you get to that point, addressing things now and kind of educating yourself. I would say that that is something that’s so big and what we do. And something that I tell my clients over and over again is I was like, I want to educate you and I want you to learn and understand about your body.

So that one day you don’t need me, like, as crazy as that sounds that’s my ultimate goal is to work with a client and to educate them to the point where they’re like, I am so confident in myself, I’m confident in my nutrition. I’ve healed my gut issues, my hormone issues that I’m good to go and I can maintain and sustain this moving forward.

And so that’s really what prevention is, is saying, okay, where am I at now? Where do I not wanna go? And what path do I need to take to get me as far away from where I don’t wanna be as possible? Mm-hmm so we kind of have these two options of saying, you know, I’m just gonna continue with my life choices and, you know, kind of go down this path and we’ll just see kind of what happens.

Or you can say, no, maybe I have a family history of this kind of autoimmune condition. Mm-hmm or maybe some heart disease is in my family history. I don’t wanna be like that. What can I do right now today to get me as far from that as possible? And so having the information and the knowledge and the understanding that we have through the lab testing, we are looking for not only like a disease state, but we’re looking for what’s optimal mm-hmm

So I would say that most. Doctors most conventional Western medicine practices are not looking for what’s optimal. They are just looking at your labs. To make sure that you don’t have some sort of disease or to make sure that you aren’t like super crazy off the charts, but they’re not looking to see, okay, are you optimal?

Are you feeling as best as you can? And so that’s what we do because we take the time to actually look at those lab test results to say, okay, you know, maybe your vitamin D is quote unquote within that range. But the reference range for vitamin D is over like a hundred points wide. So if you’re on the very, very bottom or even the very, very top of that, you’re gonna have a way different experience yeah.

Than if you are kind of in that optimal range. And so also two, I think that that is part of prevention mm-hmm is saying, okay, you know, maybe two. The naked eye or to the normal person, you’re gonna look normal, but we don’t want normal. We want optimal. 

Rachel Scheer: Yeah. Yeah. And I heard, uh, very recently this quote online, I can’t remember who said it, but it said, um, you know, health is not just the absence of disease.

It is really, you know, feeling your best. Yeah. Um, every single day, um, everything working at a, at a very optimal level, internal in the body. So it’s not just like, I don’t have a disease. Yeah. And if you’re someone who is listening and you already have symptoms, symptoms are really. Birth for your body to take more notice.

Yeah. Like those are not some things that we should ignore if we’re already, you know, having symptoms. Mm-hmm like we have chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea. Yeah. You know, acne, you know, acne is a very similar thing. Yeah. Like, you know, my body is telling me like, something is off internally. Right. I need to dive in a little bit deeper.

Exactly. 

Christine Forsythe: And, and people can even think that that’s normal, you know, like, oh, I have acne. That’s just kind of something that I had to deal with. I have bloating, but you know, it’s fine. I kind of always feel this way. I’m chronically fatigued, but you know, I am just doing a lot of things. So that’s just normal, you know?

And it, I think, especially for women too, we take on a lot of that and we’re like, oh, this is just part of being a woman. I guess I’m just gonna have to deal with it. Yeah. You know, whenever I get my cycle, I’m gonna be on the floor for two days, but that’s just part of it. Just wait until you get 

Rachel Scheer: older.

Yeah. Yeah. I hear that. And it’s like, that’s not how it should 

Christine Forsythe: be, you know, we should be able to. Thrive mm-hmm in our health 

Rachel Scheer: and not just survive 100%. And I think one thing that’s actually really unfortunate though, is when we do get, you know, women and we’ll speak to women, because those are typically, you know, our ideal client that we do end up working with, we work with men quite a bit, too.

Love working with the guys. Yeah. But we work with a lot of women too, who come to us and their, their fifties, their, their sixties, even to postmenopausal with a lot of these issues that could have really been prevented. Yeah. Early on through lifestyle changes. It wasn’t gonna be prevented through, Hey, take this medication, you know, take this birth control or anything like that.

A lot of these things could be really, really prevented. And one thing that really may not manifest in symptoms early on is even, you know, you know, low skeletal muscle mass, even quite a bit too. And one thing that. We really do focus on quite a bit at Rachel sheer nutrition is optimizing, like you said, but optimizing skeletal, muscle mass.

Yeah. You know, getting that in a really, really good place. And that is one of the best things that you can really do for overall, for sure. Preventative health. And I know you’re, you’re the blood sugar expert. Mm-hmm um, but when you’re also looking at someone’s labs, you know, like you said, you’re like, you may not be diabetic mm-hmm you may not be prediabetic.

Um, but you could be someone who has, you know, a lot of these blood sugar. Issues. Yeah. Irregularities, you may be basically, you know, borderline insulin resistant, like you said, cuz it’s, it’s an overall spectrum. Yeah. Um, one thing you actually shared with me recently that I thought was really interesting was really the, the difference between what those, some of those numbers are.

Mm-hmm um, if you could share a little bit of what that looks like with like blood sugar, because I think you were talking a little bit about like, here is like the range where typical Western medicine looks at with your blood sugar and here is where you’re diabetic. Here’s where you’re prediabetic.

Yeah. And if you’re even at like, kind of the, the. Threshold of that. You’re gonna have relatively a degree still of insulin resistance. You’re gonna have a hard time losing weight. This could lead to hormonal imbalances inflammation in the body. And for women, you know, in their early, you know, thirties in their twenties, even earlier in life to address their blood sugar, optimize their skeletal muscle mass, you know, they may not have symptoms quite yet, but that is like the best thing in my opinion, to really get your health.

Right. So later on in life, when you are going through menopause yeah. You don’t end up with all of the belly fat. You don’t end up with all of the other you knows attire yeah. None of us want we’re. It is harder, not impossible, but definitely harder. Of course, to reverse a little bit of that. I never once used the word impossible because everything’s possible, but it is definitely much harder because of the loss scope to muscle mass, but kind of coming back to my point, what would you, what does like the numbers look like?

How we look at it for like an optimal range versus like how Western medicine looks at that? Yeah. 

Christine Forsythe: So when it comes to blood sugar balance and blood sugar regulation, there’s a couple of different lab values that we wanna take into. So you have your fasting glucose, glucose is sugar. You know, sugar is kind of like our body’s form of energy.

And so fasting glucose should be within a specific range. So that’s gonna be like a snapshot in time, whatever day that you got that testing done. That’s what it’s gonna look like. So sometimes that can be a little. Kind of flui, you know, if you had like cake the night before with dinner, you know, maybe your blood sugar’s a little bit elevated or maybe you had like a really high fat dinner and so your blood sugar could look a little bit low.

We’re not gonna stop there. You know, we’re also gonna be looking your hemoglobin A1C, which I say is the best average of what your blood sugar control has looked like. So this kind of shows me, you know, especially for different clients who are like, I’ve really been working on my nutrition, I’ve really been working on it, but then we get their lap test results back and it’s like, okay, you know, maybe you, you’ve made a couple of these different changes within the past couple weeks, but this number is showing me, you know, what your history has looked like.

And so that A1C. Is what your physician is looking at to quote unquote, diagnose you with prediabetes or diabetes. But I would say one of the most important labs that I like to look at is actually your insulin. Cuz I had a client just the other day, her A1C was in a perfect range, you know, kind of surface level.

It looked amazing. Even her fasting glucose was normal, her insulin off the charts. So what that’s showing us, so insulin is a hormone that your body pumps out to take some of that circulating energy, that sugar kind of back back into the body. So it’s like, okay, we have a lot of energy. That’s kind of circulating around.

Let’s produce insulin to take some of that out so that we can, you know, be a little bit more stable. So her insulin was pumping and pumping and pumping cuz it was trying so hard to keep her blood sugar levels regulated. But over time, the more that your body pumps out that insulin. The less your body mm-hmm is going to respond.

So this is where that term insulin resistance comes in is because her body was making so much insulin, but it wasn’t responding to that. So you always give the analogy of a sugar bowl, which I’ve kind of stolen. I love that taking it for myself. So imagine that you have this sugar bowl, which is kind of like your body.

So if you have sugar, that’s in the sugar bowl, it’s totally fine. But whenever that sugar starts to kind of overflow and you’re trying to like push it down and push it back into the sugar bowl and like, oh, I’m gonna, I’m gonna get it in there. I’m gonna shove this lid in. That’s almost kind of what insulin.

Is doing, especially if you have to take like medications of insulin, is it shoving that sugar back into your body when it’s like, okay. Instead of like forcing the body to do something, how about we say, okay, we have all this extra sugar that’s in the body. Why don’t we use that? You know? And so that’s really kind of where it comes to even coming back to your nutrition and also muscle mass mm-hmm muscles, what’s metabolically active.

it’s, what’s using the calories that you’re consuming, you know, muscles kind of our organ of longevity. And it also helps with that blood sugar balance because it’s metabolically active mm-hmm . And so the more muscle that you have, the more sensitive you’re going to be to those different balances with your blood sugar, which is actually really 

Rachel Scheer: good.

Yeah. And just outta curiosity, what was some of like the symptoms that this client came in with, who technically wasn’t like diabetic or prediabetic. Mm. But did she have any kind of weight loss resistance or anything like that? So 

Christine Forsythe: it’s very interesting with her. She was a little bit older. Okay. And so I would say that she had just kind of gone through life being like, oh, this is just kind of how I feel, you know, kind of that example that I was sharing earlier, but we focused on her nutrition.

Month one, whenever she came in, she wasn’t eating breakfast, she would have her coffee first thing in the morning mm-hmm and then she was like, I’m just not really hungry. So I don’t really eat until like one, maybe two I’ll kind of have a small meal and then it kinda gets to dinner and I’m like really, really snacky.

So I’ll like go in the pantry and I’ll grab whatever, and then I’ll have my dinner. And then of course I want ice cream, cuz that sounds really good. You know? And so she’s like on these like massive up upside downs kinds and lots of blood sugar. Yeah. And so I was like, I want you to focus on eating three meals per day.

Let’s make it super simple. Let’s get a protein, a fat and a fiber in there. She started eating breakfast, you know, even though at first she was like, but I’m just like not really hungry. I was like, let’s just have something really small, you know, kind of to start your. Not having that coffee on an empty stomach.

Mm-hmm like, let’s just kind of try it. 

Rachel Scheer: And especially if you had sugar in the coffee. 

Christine Forsythe: Oh my gosh. She did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. You know, those creamers that you get store mm-hmm so she started eating breakfast. I saw her the next month and she’s like, Christine, my energy levels are so much more stable and my mood is so much better, like what’s going on?

And I was like, Hmm. 

Rachel Scheer: Interest. Interesting. Whenever you balance your blood sugar is kind of what happens. Yeah. Yeah. It plays such a big role in your mood, but what’s so interesting when I hear you explain like that client’s case is so she wasn’t necessarily diabetic or even really prediabetic if she were to go to a Western medicine doctor.

So that doctor would look at her labs. Um, they wouldn’t probably run insulin, but they may run A1C in their blood sugar and. Oh, my gosh, you’re in perfect health. Yeah. And then she leaves and she’s like, oh man, you know, maybe I can’t lose the weight. I feel fatigued all the time. You know, I have a lot of these issues.

And what we already saw here is that there was still some issues here with her blood sugar leading to, you know, not really having an appetite, which is not a good sign, ravishing, hunger, we always say is not good. We don’t wanna get to that point where we wanna like bite our boyfriend’s heads off or be they don’t want that either.

Yeah. They don’t want that either. Um, or, but we also wanna have an appetite. We wanna be able to get to a point where we’re like, Hmm, I’m hungry. I could definitely eat. Yeah. You know, ultimately, but also like. Our mood and everything like that energy levels, like you said, are definitely affected. But what I’m also really hearing for, from this client too, is, uh, you know, with how she was likely eating, you know, having only coffee, first thing in the meal, even if she had sugar.

So she gets a blood sugar spike, um, no fat snow fiber in there to control that, you know, her, her next meal is kind of like snacks that you said. Yeah. Kinda like snacking here and there, which you and I have talked a lot about snacks because very rarely, are you gonna very rarely not saying never, but will you have a really good high protein, high, fat type snack option?

Yeah. Maybe like beef jerky, but even still a lot of those are processed. So typically they’re, they’re processed foods, they’re chips, they’re, you know, bars that are really processed and that’s even someone who’s like trying to be healthy too. Yeah. Like getting a bar. So most of the time, they’re not very healthy options and we’re not getting enough protein either too.

Mm-hmm . And then we get by the time to dinner and the standard American diet, this is where typically, if someone’s getting in protein, they may get it in at, at dinner time, they may have like, I’ll have a steak, I’ll have, you know, cut a fish, you know, I’m eating healthy and what’s happening over time is though they’re not getting in enough protein.

Mm-hmm their blood sugar’s up and down. Yeah. So here’s this woman now for most of her life, who’s had these fluctuations, her mood’s been affected. She’s probably low in skeletal muscle mass. I would imagine. Yeah. By being under protein. Yeah. Um, and, and now if, if left unadressed with not trying to optimize her muscle mass, getting enough protein balance out her meals, um, she could eventually actually become diabetic.

Yeah. And that lead to disease in the body. But on top of it, she’s just gonna continue to feel worse and worse and worse until she gets to a point later on in life where, you know, she does even have even more issues and she just doesn’t feel good in her body because of how much, you know, breakdown of that muscle tissue she’s had and all of the, oh my gosh, the sugar pumping through her life.

Yeah. So those, like, that’s how our brain works and we’re looking at this. We see all of this. Yeah. Where, when someone would’ve gone to like Western medicine around, like you’re, you’re in perfect health. Mm-hmm, like long term, long term looking into the future. You know, we can see all these things that can be massively prevented and someone may even think too, like these aren’t like major symptoms, like, right.

Mm-hmm um, what would you say was like her biggest symptom that she had as to why she came in? So weight loss, weight loss, definitely. Okay. Was number one, if that 

Christine Forsythe: makes sense as to why she absolutely. And especially, you know, kind of some of that weight around the midsection, especially with the insulin resistance, that’s usually where we see it for both men and women.

So it doesn’t have to be just women specifically. You know, men can also struggle with this as well. Weight loss was one of her main concerns, energy, you know, kind of some of that fatigue mm-hmm , those were also some different things. She had a little bit of bloating, you know, kind of some other things that were a little bit off with her digestion, but her main concerns were the weight and the energy.

Rachel Scheer: and it sounds like all of that was really coming to some of the blood sugar. Mm-hmm some of the insulin resistance. Yeah. Then. Fixing. It was a lot of getting her diet in a good place. Yeah. But I would imagine too, exercise was a big part of it as well. Mm-hmm and incorporating some resistance training.

Yeah. To get some more muscle mass on her too. Yeah. So it’s a very different approach. And the reason why I’m I’m digging a little bit is because I think it’s, it’s so important for the listeners to really hear like what the Australia looks like and everybody is, is completely different. Yeah. So like, luckily for her, it sounds like she was, you know, she had some things that were off, but it wasn’t like terribly terribly off where we have had people who come back with a ton of things, like you’ve mentioned toxins and, you know, SIBO and low digestive enzymes, where it does take a little bit more of this like hands on approach to ultimately, you know, get them to heal overall.

But I think it’s, it’s really cool to look at the difference between the two where this woman would’ve walked into a Western medicine physician done those basic labs been sent on her way. And over time, she would’ve just continued to get worse and worse and worse. Maybe eventually walk back into a Western medicine place for her annual checkup.

Mm-hmm on her A1C and they would’ve been like, oh, guess what? You’re, pre-diabetic, here’s a medication and you better start losing weight. She’s like, man, I’ve been trying to lose weight for so long. Yeah. Well, 

Christine Forsythe: and, and that recommendation isn’t helpful, you know, they’re like eat less, move more. And you’re like, I’m already working out for two hours a day and I eat almonds for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

And that’s it, you know, it’s like that, that recommendation isn’t helpful. And so getting to know, not only the person through the coaching that we do, but also through the lab testing, you know, I would say that the lab testing is like that inside look as to who that person is and what they’re struggling with.

Mm-hmm and, you know, kind of some of those different imbalances. And again, us looking for those optimal. Levels, we can take someone who’s just like, uh, I just like, don’t really feel that great to someone who’s like, I literally feel like I could conquer the world. Mm-hmm I, my focus at work has improved.

I’m a much better mom to my children. I’m a much better spouse to my significant other, like the work that we do is about so much more. Than just the physical mm-hmm right. You know, even kind of going back to what we were talking about at the beginning. Yes. You have to heal from some of those different, emotional, mental kind of different traumas in your life, but also too, the impact that really taking some of that time for yourself helps to heal and helps for you to progress forward into a D.

Person like that, that also too is part of that optimization, you know, like it’s, it’s, it’s not just the labs, it’s not just the nutrition. It’s the total person that we’re 

Rachel Scheer: looking at. It’s a lot of the mindset shifts. Mm-hmm the selfcare using that. No button more. Oh my gosh. I had to learn that. Yeah. Yeah.

And even like, like you Christy and like, I look at you and like, I call you Christine 2.0 yeah. Like some people know that, but like night and day difference, like with like who you are and how you show up and your confidence and your work. Yeah. Um, relationships, you know, just like your body confidence, even as well, too, everything like you walked through.

Yeah. And a big part of that, that I always say for me was the fact that I had to do a lot of that work myself. And, you know, I think one of the big expectations too, for our clients coming in too, is I’m gonna just run. A ton of extensive labs and you know, and then they’re just gonna give me, hand me over the nutrition plan.

And one thing that I love that you spoke to a little bit earlier was, you know, one, this is collaborative of us really, really ultimately working together. Yeah. Um, but still at the end of the day, it’s up to the client. Yeah. To really do the work. And I think a lot of our clients, oh, sorry. Some clients yeah.

Are surprised. And, um, when they do come in and they realize like, oh my gosh, this is actually gonna be a lot of work. Yeah. And it is a lot of work that something like we don’t try to like. Preach that it’s not a lot of work mm-hmm because in order to heal in order to really get to the root cause, you know, there’s gonna be, have to be some massive lifestyle changes.

Yeah. If you wanna make small changes, you’ll get small results. If you wanna make big changes, you’ll typically get big results in your life. Mm-hmm . So when you can change your diet, we, you can change your morning or routine as to what that looks like when you can start, you know, making different changes in your overall life.

When you can do a functional medicine protocol to address the things that are off in your gut mm-hmm um, if you have toxins, do something, get that out. It’s like the results that maybe would be minor from going to work with someone and just make some diet shifts mm-hmm or, you know, get on a medication is like tenfold.

Yeah. But I think, and I’m not sure about like, how you feel about this, but the, the greatest feeling for me, like going through all of this myself was like, I did all of the work. Yeah. Like this person may have helped guide me. They have given me the task. They said, Hey, we should do this with your nutrition.

But at the end of the day, like Christine’s not there getting you outta bed, you know, early in the morning, like kicking your butt and being, like getting in the gym. Yeah. You know, um, they’d have to pay us quite a bit. oh my 

Christine Forsythe: gosh. Yeah. 

Rachel Scheer: Imagine to do that. But like, at the end of the day, it has to be that put person’s own like intrinsic motivation and the desire to really better themselves.

And I think that’s the only time where I see a little bit of a disconnect. It’s like, I want the results, but I really don’t wanna change. And there’s this really big fear of like what I’m gonna lose by going out this, through this entire process. And I, 100% like empathize with people who’ve been there.

I’ve been there myself. Mm-hmm in many places in my life. Like, you mean I’m gonna have to give up these foods that I love. I’m gonna have to give up, you know, some of my lifestyle habits that haven’t been healthy, like going out and partying and drinking and not saying like, Forever. Like, you’ll never be able to have a drink again.

You’ll never be able to, but it, you really have to ask a question, like how important is your healing really for you? Mm-hmm how important is stepping into this next version of you, you know, waking up, feeling energized, feeling your best self, being able to look in the mirror and being like, I am freaking proud of this person.

Yeah. And not because someone just handed me over a plan that I followed, but because I learned the tools, like you said, I learned what works best for my body and I did the work in order to get there. Yeah. So I’m not sure if you can relate to that at all, but that’s, I think still one of the misconceptions, when people go on this entire process is that, you know, the work is done when, once I sign up yeah.

For the coaching. 

Christine Forsythe: Yeah. And I would love to. Kind of dive a little bit more into that, cuz I see this so often and you know, I think there is such a difference between knowledge and action, right? Like you can know and you can understand what you need to do, but if you’re not taking action, if you’re not doing those things every day, you’re still not gonna get to the place that you need to be.

You know, I have so many clients that come to me and they’re like, Christine, I know what I need to do. But I just need someone to keep me accountable and I need someone to kind of help me get there. And I always tell them, I’m like, I am more than happy to encourage you and to be there for you. And to kind of point out some of those different things that maybe you’re not seeing, because I am the outside perspective.

Mm-hmm , but I can only come to right here. You have to meet me the other way. And you know, something that I said at the beginning is this is not a transaction. This is a relationship. And so, you know, kind of having some of that open communication. Is so important. You know, if, if I don’t hear from a client or, you know, if they’re kind of not seeing the results that they want, but they’re also not putting in that work.

It’s like, okay, if your expectations are here, but your effort in the work that you’re putting in is only here. That that’s okay. If this is the work that you’re willing to do, but. if you want these results up here, we have to be willing to, you know, kind of bridge the gap between those two. Sometimes I will have clients come to me and they’re like, well, Christine, isn’t this diet restrictive.

Like, shouldn’t I be able to just like, eat these different foods like that. It’s bad for me to be restrictive. Right. And I’m like, you know what? You know, what’s restrictive is having to give yourself insulin every single day. You know, what’s restrictive is being so overweight that walking up a flight of stairs gets you winded.

You know, what’s restrictive is having to take naps every couple of hours because you can’t keep your eyes open throughout the day. That’s restrictive. Yeah. Right. Like working on yourself and eliminating foods that you may be a little bit sensitive to, even to the outside perspective. Every if they’re like, oh my gosh, like, why.

Are you avoiding that food? Or why can you not eat this? Like, why can’t you just have fun with us? Right. It’s like, no, I’m working on my body and I’m working on the person that I want to become. Mm-hmm and I’m putting deposits into the account of that person. And so, you know, even if healing your body and kind of going on this journey, let’s just say that it takes you a year, a year, may sound like a long time, but a year in the spectrum of your life, especially if you’re focusing on that.

Now there’s such a difference between living a long life and living a long and healthy yeah. Life, right? Like I don’t wanna get to the end of my life having to take 10 medications at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, just to keep my eyes open and just to help me wit through the pain I want to get to the end of my life.

Still being able to cook for myself and being able to sit down on the toilet, go to the bathroom. Like those are the little things that I think sometimes we take for granted. And if you focus on those things now, And you do kind of take a step back and say, okay, maybe I can’t have this food or this alcohol that somebody else is having, but I know that the, the decisions that I’m making now.

Are putting those deposits into that person that I wanna become. So that one day I can have a little bit more balance. Yeah. So that one day I get to be that person. And I know that I’ve put in the work. 

Rachel Scheer: Yeah. That is powerful to like, know that like it is possible. And to get to that other side, like I would go back and do my own own healing, like over and over again with my gut.

Yeah. A million times. And I’m sure you would even attest to it as well. Mm-hmm which I could have sat there and been. This is restrictive. I don’t wanna do. And I think mm-hmm, there. There’s a perfectly okay. Point of like mourning a little bit over old life. Yeah. Like I had to, I mourned a little bit. I had many nights of like tears and crying of being like, oh my gosh, is isn’t happening to me.

Um, you know, the, the chronic bloating and everything that I was dealing with and how much pain that I was in, like there was like definitely a morning process. There’s nothing wrong with that. But eventually I had to really, really make the decision of what is it that I ultimately want for my long term health for myself.

And for me, it was cutting out alcohol. I didn’t touch alcohol for a full year. You know, now I’m at a point where I can and I’ll speak openly about it. Have a drink every now and then do I always choose to no, but I can now. Yeah. Um, I had to cut out a ton of foods. I could even eat like an avocado then.

Like avocado is like a good healthy food. Yeah. So talk about restrictive. Like my diet was incredibly restrictive, but I would do it 10 times over again. to create the empowerment, to feel the way now I get to feel every single day. And what’s so cool about that. Walking through that and being able to be like, you know, if I can do something like that, like what else can I really, really do think that’s a lot of what people are really missing out on.

Yeah. Is the person who walks in to work with us. Yes. They may have this issues. They may be like, I just wanna feel better. I wanna get rid of my bloated walking out of it. If they do the work on there. And they really, really put in the work, they walk out being like. I never realized I had this type of confidence in myself.

And to your point, like it shows up then in other areas of your life, it does show up in how you show up in your work. It shows up in dating and relationships with it really does family. Yeah. It shows up in so many different areas of your life because of I, if I can do this, like what else can I not do?

I’ve had to walk through that, to get to this bus version of, of myself. So I love that you say like, you know, what is really, really restrictive is having to deal with all of these issues every single day, you know? And I think it’s totally okay to be able to go here for a little while. Does that mean we have to stay there?

Like, does that mean we have to stay there? No, mm-hmm but no one wants to stay there. I did not wanna stay where I was at too. And you know, when I had to cut out some things that I really did actually enjoy, but I didn’t enjoy, like, to your point, I did not enjoy, you know, being bloated every single day. I did not enjoy like the depression and the anxiety and just wanting to lay in bed and just like.

Be miserable every single day I enjoyed taking action. I enjoyed cutting out some of those things, seeing the results and feeling better. And I think it’s, it’s really the beginning part too. Once you can kind of get past yes, there may be a little bit of like, I’m having to get rid of things that I’ve been a big part of my identity of who I am.

Yeah. But also remembering like. You’re stepping into a new identity. Now, like you are leaving this old identity behind cuz this old identity was the person who didn’t have the appropriate boundaries in their life that was putting foods into their body that were toxic to their gut. Um, not good for their mental health.

And now like, yes, there’s a morning of this old identity and the habits and the things that I had for immediate pleasure and gratification. But now what I’m really stepping into is this new identity that is empowered, that has self respect, that doesn’t always do things. May feel like fun in the moment.

Yeah. But that really is empowering me. And that creates a different kind of pleasure really, really in the long run. Yeah. And I think that’s, what’s so different about a lot of what we really, really get to do. We get to really be the guide in my opinion. Yeah. The guide for someone to step into that version of themselves, if they’re ready to, if they’re willing to do the work and if they’re really willing to co collaborate with us as to what this new identity and this new version of themselves really, really gets to look like.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That’s so powerful. Yeah. Yeah. So. This has been an awesome podcast, talking about so many different things of like what functional medicine really, really is, what it is, not what it really means to heal instead of just deal. And I hope you guys have gotten a ton out of this because healing is not a quick fix.

It’s not something that, you know, we just go to the doctor, we do, you know, some labs and then we take a medication. Um, there are certain situations where that is what, what is necessary for that. But in order to create the life that we really, really want for ourselves, we’re gonna have to do some things that may be scary.

Maybe uncomfortable may be completely out of our comfort zone, but it is in that. You know, out outside of that comfort zone where I think that next version of ourself is really, really waiting for us. So, you know, I thank you, Christine, for coming on. Um, you are just like a godsend and like your transformation has been night and day.

And what I’ve seen in, in you, like through not only your own functional medicine healing, um, but then stepping into being a coach and now really getting to pay it forward mm-hmm and help other people heal. And I think that’s really what Rachel share nutrition is about. Yeah. Is even our clients. I see it too.

And I don’t know about you, but I see our clients who go through this entire process and their families start to change. Yeah. The way they show up for their kids start to change. We’ve had people actually wanna come work for Rachel sheer nutrition. Who then wanna get into a career of functional medicine.

And because they change themselves, they then get to pay forward and they get to change other people’s lives. And I think that’s like where we have the best job in the world is because we get to take what we’ve walked through. And we’ve been where our clients have been at before. So we get it to 100%.

We’re not sitting here and just being like, do this, do this, do this. Yeah. And haven’t walked through ourselves, haven’t gone through all of the emotions. Like we’ve been in the trenches, we get it. We have, we get it 100%, like everything that’s really, really coming up so we can empathize with that. But give you like that tough love that we know is like really necessary to help you get to where you ultimately wanna be.

So, is there any last things that you want to share with the audience, um, or work and people find you on social media and check out Christine the dietician? Yeah, absolutely. 

Christine Forsythe: So I would just say, you know, when it comes to addressing your health and really kind of stepping into this new person that you’re becoming, because I would say that that’s what any transformation is.

Kind of saying goodbye to that old version of yourself, but also understanding like, okay, I’m saying goodbye to this version, but what is that next version of me gonna be? And so something that I heard one time is nothing good ever comes without sacrifice. And I don’t see that as a negative. I see that as a positive of saying, okay, maybe I’m gonna have to sacrifice some things right now, but look where it’s gonna take me in the long run and, you know, kind of looking back to Christine one point, oh, I’m like, I loved that version of myself, but I love today’s version Christine 2.0, so much more.

And, and I can tell that I’m a different human, you know, in the best way, but also those experiences and that discipline is what has led me to where I’m at today. So I’m just so thankful to be here as well. But if you want to find me, my Instagram is Christine dot the dietician. So that’s what I am on Instagram.

Um, and. Pretty much any anywhere you can find me. Yeah. And if 

Rachel Scheer: you guys want to work with Christine, you can head to our website, Rachel share.com. You can fill out her unique application about working with her, check out her on social media, check out some of the other podcasts that we’ve done. Mm-hmm shoot her at DM if you have any questions, but it’s been awesome having you back on.

I’m sure this won’t be the last time and we are about to spend the weekend doing some surfing, some beach fun, doing some ice baths. So thank you guys for tuning in, and this is Ben. It’s your.