July 12, 2022 • 39 mins
Success: The Fast Road to Burn Out
The story in this podcast is one I think most of you will relate to. Chasing the “dream”, the big job, family, exercise. And then realizing how burnout you feel once you get there.
Stephanie Graves shares her story of transformation from burnout back to health and balance. For 10 years, she was in the medical field as a physician's assistant (licensed PA). Stephanie enjoyed her job and the professionals that she worked with. However, after 10 years and knowing something wasn’t right with the care she was able to provide, she began a journey to improve her health and the health of others.
Stephanie, like many others, got burned out. The high patient turnover rate, raising children, running marathons, eating what she considered healthy, and lifestyle we’re catching up. Stephanie made the bold decision to heal herself. During this process, she learns that her exercise and diet were not supporting her health. Anxiety and digestion issues plagued her. Stephanie began to study functional nutrition and that was the turning point for her. This was the genesis of TheFunctionalHealer.com
What is Functional Nutrition?
Functional nutrition and functional medicine or a holistic approach to health. By first getting the body clean and reducing systemic inflammation caused by many foods, the body will naturally reset to a healing state. Once the body is in that healing state, other factors can begin to be addressed. Lifestyle factors such as, stress, trauma, anxiety, weight gain, unhealthy habits, and emotional resiliency.
Combining both traditional and functional medicine in cooperation with clients' doctors, provides a thorough and holistic path back to good health.
During Covid, Stephanie made the radical change to leave her profession and start her business, the Functional Healer. She offers individual client consultations conveniently online for anyone in the US. She is currently developing programs to reach a wider audience. She is available for new clients as well.
Take a listen and see if her story resonates with you. It is a common story here in western culture. Stephanie can show you the path back to good health and abundant life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh Meeder (00:00):
Welcome to the great things LLC podcast. The
show celebrating inspiringpeople who are making an impact
in the world, creating consciousbusinesses that are in alignment
with their own personal values.
Each episode shares the wisdom,experience and intention of
those that are following theirdream. Visionaries that have
chosen a different path, foundtheir purpose and create joy and
abundance while helping others.
(00:23):
Whether you're already atrailblazer, or still searching
for your own path, these storieswill inspire you towards being
the best version of yourself.
Welcome to the great things, LLCPodcast. I'm Josh Meeder, your
host and today, I'm reallyexcited to share the story that
Stephanie Graves is bringingforward because I think it's
going to land and resonate withso many people out there from
being highly performing highlysuccessful doing everything, the
(00:48):
mom, the family, the work towhat a lot of people find is a
quick path to burnout andimpacting your health and
Stephanie story show, she'sgoing to share that, and what
she's come through how she'scome through and what she's
doing today. So first off,welcome, Stephanie. It's great
to have you on here.
Stephanie Graves (01:10):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm super
excited to be here today.
Josh Meeder (01:14):
Yeah, so Stephanie and I, and her husband, Ryan met
several years ago at a wellnessworkshop and just had a really
great connection to fantasticpeople, lovely parents, and just
really found a good connection.
And since that point, Stephanie,I, you know, I followed both of
your adventures. And, you know,let's set the table a little bit
(01:35):
for the audience here to sharewhere you came from, you know,
from the physician's assistants,the successes, the challenges
you had, and what kind of reallybrought you to the point where
you had to make a shift?
Stephanie Graves (01:47):
Yeah, absolutely. So, yes, you're
correct. My background is as aphysician's assistant, which I
practiced for 11 years. Andinitially, it was very
rewarding. And I really feltlike I was making a difference
helping people particularly inmy first job, I worked in
surgery. So that was pretty muchlike instant gratification. You
(02:11):
know, I was seeing what I wasdoing right before my eyes
helping people. As time went on,and as I had children, twins,
and then a son, my prioritiesshifted. And during that time, I
was also struggling with my ownhealth crises. And I felt like I
(02:32):
was just being bounced fromprovider to specialists to
nutritionist, and no one wasreally taking the time to listen
or to help me or to do any ofthe deeper work that was really
needed to uncover what was goingon. They were just merely
treating the symptoms. All thewhile, too, as I mentioned, I
(02:55):
was starting to have someprofessional disenchantment, if
you will. As I was going throughthe wringer as a patient, I saw
on the other side, how patientswere just being it was like a
wheelhouse bring being broughtin and out as quickly as
possible. So I knew there had tobe a better way. And being the
(03:19):
one high achiever, I guess, ormaybe even a little bit stubborn
person that I am, I wasunwilling to accept that I was
just going to be on prescriptionmeds for the rest of my life. So
I explored a different avenue.
And a local one, a friend firstintroduced me to functional
(03:40):
nutrition. And instantly I was Iwas hooked, and I enrolled in
the coursework, and I completedtwo levels of certification.
And, and then I startedimplementing it not only in my
health, I mean, the issues thatI was struggling with radically
changed. I was no longer livingwith daily debilitating pain.
(04:03):
And then I was being able to, Iwas given the opportunity to
share this knowledge with all ofmy patients and seeing firsthand
the radical transformations thatwere happening in their lives
and giving them their livesback.
Josh Meeder (04:21):
And on let's for the audience, so functional
medicine, verse allopathic inthe traditional because I think
one thing people see is likedoctors and nurses, they went to
school, they study, they knowhow to be healthy. And and it's
a difference between functionalmedicine and your traditional
medicine of the West. Could youmaybe just help for the
(04:42):
listeners who aren't familiarwith functional medicine as to
what that is?
Stephanie Graves (04:46):
Absolutely. I think that's a really great
piece to dive into. So yeah, sofunctional medicine. First,
let's say traditional Westernmedicine and doctors are
wonderful. They are trained inMedicine, they are not trained
in nutrition. And I can speakfrom a vantage point of a PA. I
mean, I think our nutritioneducation was maybe like one
(05:11):
lecture. So in traditionalWestern medicine, it's medicine.
And it's mainly just symptoms.
So you go to the doctor, you'redepressed, you get an
antidepressant, you havediabetes, you get a medication
to treat diabetes. And my worldin the functional world, we're
looking much deeper, looking tothe roots of what caused your
(05:33):
depression, what caused yourdiabetes? And how can we make
shifts to the internal terrainthrough various diet and
lifestyle modifications, wherethe dysfunction took root, the
internals rain in order tocreate, you know, real
sustainable change. So we'repeeling back the layers and more
(05:54):
and more and digging deeper, toidentify what it is that caused
that so we can treat that. Andagain, in essence, resolve, you
know, their symptom or disorder.
Josh Meeder (06:08):
So, as I understand it, and am experienced and other
friends in the field, I thinkone of the things that just to
touch on a little bit is thechallenge with the almost the
psychology of the Americanpublic, and their approach to
medicine, because it's go to thedoctor to feel better to
alleviate the symptoms, butyou're really not really hitting
(06:29):
that root cause. So getting intothe functional medicine goes
deeper, but it is a longer moregradual and gentle. Shift. If
Yeah,
Stephanie Graves (06:39):
yeah, absolutely. And I often have to
remind patients or clients to,you know, for example, you're
coming to me for anxiety, ittook you 46 years to get to this
point, it's going to take morethan one visit to feel better,
you know, so there's a lot ofundoing and unraveling. And yes,
well I do is exploring muchdeeper. So that does take more
(07:00):
time to really investigate allof the factors that are
influencing disease or symptomexpression.
Josh Meeder (07:07):
And we'll get into this a little bit later. But
there's also not just thenutritional aspect, but the
emotional, the spiritual, theentire body, where trauma can
come in, can reside in thosedifferent things. So it's a more
holistic, and I think it's amore intuitive approach that
people just innately understand.
But it does take some work andsome investment in yourself to
get there. But let's jump backto your story. So you've been,
(07:30):
you know, you've found success,you've found a path that you
really liked. And then therewere some disenchantment, you
have these things you've gottennow through your functional
certification. Where where'sthis now starting to open up to
you where it leads you today?
With the functional healer.comand the services you're
(07:51):
providing?
Stephanie Graves (07:52):
Yeah, so before the functional healer was
officially born, I was stillworking as a PA, I was
homeschooling my children. Andlike you said, it was a quick
path to burnout. I mean, I'dalready been burnt out for
years. But I got to a pointwhere I just couldn't do all the
things and my PA career was notfulfilling to me. Yes, I was
(08:14):
helping people, but on someoneelse's clock and dime and I had
to fit into a box that I didn'treally fit into anymore. So had
to take make a really bigdecision, I couldn't homeschool
be a PA and start a business allwithin the span of the same
(08:34):
time. So I made a really bigdecision that I was going to
leave my super stable wellpaying with amazing benefits pa
career to really just dive intothis path and my passion and be
able to provide medicine in away that I feel is most
(08:55):
meaningful. So yes, and Marchthe functional healer.com was
born. And I launched my websiteand I'm currently accepting new
clients when I'm working with ona one on one basis and in the
near future. I would like tolaunch a program to to be able
to help more people becausethat's kind of where you get
(09:19):
stuck with one on one you canonly help so many people and
honestly I just want to helpeveryone because there's so much
misinformation out there and somany people are doing it wrong,
myself included. I thought I wasdoing all the right things. I
thought I was eating healthy. Ithought by running marathons I
was in top physical conditionbut in reality I was I was not
(09:42):
you know I was doing a lot ofthe wrong things. So I'm really
just here to educate people,provide them with the
information, share my story andhelp guide them along the way
because it's it is overwhelmingand it's it can be scary to do
it alone. Um,
Josh Meeder (10:01):
and with the right direction and the baseline, you
know, we'll talk a little bitabout how find finding those
baselines, finding where yourstasis is, once that's in place,
it becomes building. And, youknow, going back to making the
decision, this is where, youknow, I know I'm really curious
about is, that is a place whereso many people find themselves,
(10:25):
you know, in a disenfranchisedposition in their career unhappy
in their life wanting to make achange, but sometimes trapped by
circumstance and finance andincome and, and all the things
around it, like, how did you getpast that fear? What was your
support system? Or was it justsuch a lightning bolt of
clarity? You had no otherchoice? I'm really fascinated to
(10:46):
see what was got you over thehump there.
Stephanie Graves (10:49):
Yeah, well, you know, a little bit more
about our story than the rest.
But for the past four years, myfamily and I, we've basically
just been going on leaps offaith. And thus far, it seemed
to work out pretty well. Youknow, we're still all alive and
well. So that's kind of where wewere at, we also had a really
(11:09):
big move to move from NorthCarolina to Maine. So it seemed
like the perfect time to takethis leap. But yeah, there was
definitely pushback from family.
And I think just for fear of notbeing financially secure with
(11:29):
three young children, you know,which is understandable. But
again, I have a much biggervision and dream for all of
this. And I couldn't do that inthe constraints that I was in.
And I think more now than ever,people need to hear, you know,
the message that messages that Ihave, and they need functional
nutrition in their life. So Ican't just sit back and be quiet
(11:52):
about it anymore.
Josh Meeder (11:54):
From as small business coaching and
standpoint, it's amazing howmuch the people who love us the
most sometimes are, I don't sayyour biggest critic, but our
least supportive because they dohave our good intentions in mind
and our best interest, but theymight just not see the the
alternative path. Was thereanyone in your profession or
(12:16):
your career that help really,you know, encourage you along or
support you through this processof transition? Or did you just
go solo and jump off the cliff?
Stephanie Graves (12:26):
I think I just went solo and jumped off the
cliff. Yeah. I mean, the doctorsthat I worked for my last job
were were very supportive. Andfor the most part, they like,
let me practice the way that Iwanted to. But again, we did
kind of butt heads a little bitat the end, and nothing bad,
just the way that they practiceversus the way that I practice.
(12:47):
And it just kind of got to apoint where I just couldn't do
that any longer. And again, wewere looking at a move, so it
just kind of seemed like thestars aligned.
Josh Meeder (13:00):
Yeah, well, you know, kudos to you, to Ryan in
the family for being able tohave that support in that faith
to do it, because that's a hugemove and want to really
acknowledge that. And so nowwe're here today, and your
practice is starting up. Andwhen we were talking, what
really struck me was was yourstory and how common it is, you
(13:22):
know, with those in the highperforming roles, those in the
parenting roles, those inrelationships, all these things
coming in from life and in lifeis a fast pace. So I know you
you've always cooked well, andyou know, you enjoy good food,
but even that sometimes is thewrong food for our body. So when
(13:43):
I heard it, it's like, oh, yeah,do I know anyone who's high
performing high functioning,maybe high anxiety over
functioning, over achieving, youknow, struggling with
perfectionism? Like, that'spretty common out there. And so
how let's start there, becausethat's, you know, from what we
discussed a fairly bigpopulation that you have, what
(14:04):
do you do with those folks? Howdo you take that first step and
roll back what they've developedover 1020 30 years of lifestyle?
Stephanie Graves (14:12):
Yeah, yeah. So for any client, no matter where
they're coming in, the firststep is really is to clean up
the diet. So it may seem notimportant. But as cliche as it
sounds, everything really doesstart in the gut. So if you're
constantly eating inflammatoryfoods, and those are an intern,
(14:34):
sending inflammatory messages toyour brain, since your gut and
brain communicate very closely,the longest nerve in your body,
then that's only going toperpetuate and worsen any of
those, you know, ruminatingthoughts or anxiety or fear of
failure, any of those things.
So, really just and also, thebiggest thing is meeting people
where they are to so looking attheir food journals. Are they
(14:56):
eating sandwiches? Foods, yes,okay, let's remove those in a
stepwise fashion if they're not,or once they've done that, then
really just looking atlifestyle. And for me, I feel
the biggest thing that I did wasto, to drop my body into that
healing state because whenyou're in that constant fight or
(15:17):
flight mode, that sympatheticresponse, the same response
that's triggered when you'rerunning away from a bear. Or if
you're chronically stressed,because of job, kids,
relationships, lack of sleep,under eating, even all the
things, the same response istriggered. So really, dropping
(15:40):
into that healing state, thebiggest thing I found was taking
things off my list was removingresponsibilities and
obligations, and really justfocusing on the things that
really filled me up and kind ofdisconnecting from some of those
other things. So for example,like I said, I used to run
(16:01):
marathons. Now I do yoga, and Iwalk not because I don't love
running, because it wasn'tserving me, because honestly, I
was running, looking back now inhindsight to escape. From what,
from my reality? So really justlooking at the things that
(16:22):
you're doing every day? Are theybringing you joy? Or are they
depleting your energy? Or areyou using it as you know, an
escape or a coping mechanism,and really just sitting with
yourself and exploring whatyou're doing every day?
Josh Meeder (16:47):
It's interesting on that part about change, because
I would imagine this is probablyone of the hardest hurdles or
objections for people ischanging habits, right, we are
creatures of habits, our brainsare literally wired, to seek
comfort and avoid discomfort.
And it almost is like a griefprocess giving up a relationship
that you had. So if you'd likedyour morning bagel, you know,
(17:09):
with your cream cheese, andyou've done it for five years,
that kind of creates a loop apattern. And, and so it's you
almost have to go through agrief process of changing
habits. And when you're notaware of that, that sneaks up
sideways sometimes. But let'stalk I want to just go back a
little bit to help kind of bringthe audience in on the concept
(17:30):
of inflammatory foods, andreally, why why is the food
causing inflammation? And how isit affecting your brain? You
know, just to bring people up tospeed on that?
Stephanie Graves (17:43):
Yeah, absolutely. And that was a great
point you mentioned before. Soone of the things that I do
that's very unique is I providea ton of education in my visits,
because again, it makes it mucheasier to give up that morning
bagel, if you understand thenegative implications it's
having on your health, versusjust saying don't eat the bagel,
you know? So yeah, so there'sfour common kind of groups of
(18:08):
foods that are inflammatory, sogluten, dairy, processed foods,
and refined sugars, and each ofthem cause inflammation and
slightly different ways. Buteither way, like I mentioned,
your gut and your brain areconnected to the longest nerve
in your body. And those signalsactually go both ways. So
(18:30):
anything you put in your mouth,sends messages to your brain,
good, bad or indifferent. Viceversa. Anything that's happening
up here sends messages to yourgut. So that can often be a
telltale sign to if anxiety,depression, ADHD, any mental
health symptom can present as giside effects, which is what I
(18:56):
was experiencing. Also,interestingly 95% of your
serotonin is produced in yourgut. So if you're constantly
just putting foods in there,that are inflammatory depleting
your body of serotonin that'salso going to help you know
negatively impact how you'refeeling overall. So the first
(19:17):
step again, is really just toremove those inflammatory foods.
And then once we've done that,then it's called clearing the
Muddy Waters, if you will, thenwe have a much better idea of
okay, what's really going on andthey are what you know, their
their main complaint was onceremoved these things that we
know are skewing the picture.
Now, now, where are they at andoftentimes, just cleaning up the
(19:40):
diet can be significant enoughfor resolution. Certainly not
always, but can oftentimes havea big enough impact. That you
know, maybe very little isneeded elsewhere.
Josh Meeder (19:59):
That was what I was getting That's because diet in
you know, found this personallyto is so much impacts everything
you know, I've heard thestatement you can't outrun your
mouse. So if you're not eatingwell, there's no amount of
running you can do.
Unfortunately, I've never hadthe affliction of running
marathons like you have. So I'vestayed away from long term
running, but the basis ofcleaning up the diet, like what
(20:21):
are some of the things that arecommon that you might see with
your patients and in yourclients after just cleaning up
their diets? Is it you know,more mental clarity, increased
energy, better digestion? Whatdo you see typically, after the
diets been balanced?
Stephanie Graves (20:38):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it depends
to where they came in out. But,you know, yes, a lot, you know,
loss of abdominal pain, or ifthey were having cramping, or
diarrhea, improved skin, youknow, no more eczema or acne,
improved energy. better sleepreally just runs the whole
(21:00):
gamut. So these inflammatoryfoods, oftentimes, the body has
to supply its own energy tobreak them down. And, and then
in return, there's usuallylittle nutrients gained. Because
generally, those foods don'thave a ton of the nutrients.
Yes, gluten and dairy may havesome nutrients, but at its core,
(21:24):
whether or not you have foodsensitivities, or not those
those foods do cause increasedinflammation in the body. And we
know that inflammation is one ofthe roots of all chronic
diseases. So yeah, I mean, itreally, it really does run the
gamut. And I know for myself, Imean, I certainly abstained from
those foods. If I were to havesomething, maybe I would be
(21:50):
symptomatic. Maybe not, youknow, now that I've gone so long
without them. Personally, I likefeeling good. So I don't like to
take it by chance. Butoftentimes, people or clients
will say, oh, like, you know, Iwent out to eat, and I had a
pizza or something. And that wasthat night, I was sick in the
bathroom, you know, all nightlong. So I mean, your body is
(22:15):
giving you signals. Every day,it's just whether or not you're
willing to listen to what it hasto say, or if you're just gonna
continue pressing on.
Josh Meeder (22:25):
Yeah, for all the expenses and technology we have
for medical diagnosis, the bodyis one of the most accurate in
one of the first lines to getthat your body and your
emotional state will be tellingyou that and then segwaying with
the emotional states, so kind ofnow going into, we've got a
clean diet. And there's theseother underlying issues of
(22:49):
whether it be trauma, anxiety,resiliency, lack of resiliency,
what is kind of step two, in theprocess that you're guiding your
clients through?
Stephanie Graves (22:57):
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, step one is
definitely cleaning up the dietto like I said, is how can we
get the body into that healingparasympathetic state, so
dropping down from that survivalmode state that so many of us
live in all the time to gettinginto that healing,
parasympathetic state, so thatcould look different, again, for
(23:19):
everyone could look likeremoving things off your, your,
you know, to do lists, scalingback on exercise, focusing on
sleep, doing trauma work,because the body, the physical
body, so it holds so muchemotional trauma? So there's
obviously various modalities todo so. But doing trauma work, in
(23:43):
my experience, has been the mostprofound healing for me to
really get to the core of why amI anxious? And how do I moved
through this so certainly, youknow, doing everything
functionally brought me leapsand bounds ahead of where I was
and then doing trauma workreally just kind of brought
(24:05):
everything together for me.
Josh Meeder (24:08):
The trauma work and you know, being familiar in in
that myself for years, I'vealways heard the example is you
know, your you have your brainand it's the computer and like
computers, there's an operatingsystem and no matter what your
pro program, you slide into it,it still runs based on the
operating system and that traumawork is actually getting into
(24:31):
the brain and rewiring theoperating system so it performs
differently. And a lot a lot oftimes whether it be in coaching
in my profession or in yours,those trauma wounds whether they
be the third grade where youdidn't get the you know, called
for the school course or youfelt dumb because of an AP test,
(24:53):
manifest and come out completelysideways in unexpected ways and
until you can touch on thatplace. You kinda repeating
subconscious patterns.
Stephanie Graves (25:02):
Yeah, yeah.
And it's wild to once you startdoing the work to see the
stories that have been createdover time and exactly, and it
takes a lot of practice to, torewire your brain. I mean, I'm,
I'm at a much better place nowwith my anxiety, but I do catch
myself, sometimes getting caughtin that loop and my, and my
husband, you know, he's alsovery much invested in this work.
(25:25):
So it's nice to have a supportperson who can recognize it and
be like, Hey, Stephanie, I thinkyou might be, you know, in
anxiety mode right now, like,you know, take a step back. So
that's, that is helpful. But,um, yeah, and I find that
another analogy that I use,whenever I was in, working in
practice, as a PA, before doingmy functional training, I used
(25:49):
to tell people that treating anymental health disorder is most
effective with pharmacology andtherapy. Well, I don't really
promote pharmacology, in thatsense any longer. So where I am
now I feel like treating anymental health or, you know,
trauma response is mosteffective through functional
(26:12):
nutrition, and doing some sortof trauma work blending those
together to really just treatingthe whole comprehensively.
Josh Meeder (26:23):
Yeah. Which is a good point, I hope, I hope out
there is that there's the shifttowards understanding that where
there's not one modality, notone magic bullet, it's a
holistic approach to physical,emotional, and mental health all
together. Yeah. So we're gettinginto that baseline, that healthy
(26:45):
state environment. Now you'vegotten your diet under control
we're working through we're kindof figuring out issues, we're
starting to catch patterns andthings and becoming more aware
of our reaction. What are whatare the where do we go next?
What's that look like?
Stephanie Graves (27:02):
Yeah, usually, at this point, if, again, the
diets optimized, were more in ahealing state would be looking
at labs. So I usually don't lookat labs, right? You know, away
not until maybe the third orfourth visit, even and seeing
are there some markers therethat are off, that could use
(27:23):
some shifting up to thefunctional range to an essence
also help downstream factors.
And the way that I look at Labsalso is very different than,
say, your primary Doc, I'mlooking at the functional range.
So where is it that you're, forexample, vitamin D, is
functional? So where is it mostoptimized? Versus your dog is
(27:45):
looking at the pathologicalrange? So they're looking at
where does the disease exist?
I'm looking at labs to try tocatch it before that point
before you're really ill. And wecan bring things back up to
baseline, you know, gently, thatway. So yeah, looking at labs to
(28:07):
see if there's anything therethat could be shifted or could
explain what's still going on.
And also, you know, adding onany support of supplements to so
it's really important to do thediet, and the dietary cleanup,
and then working on getting outof that fight or flight mode
first. Because if you just comeout of the gate hot with
(28:31):
supplements, and there still isinflammatory foods, and you're
still not in a healing state,they're not going to have any
room or space to work, you'rebasically just going to be
wasting your money. So there issome work upfront to be done
before we jump into fancyprotocols and supplements and
those exotic things I think alot of people just jump to
first.
Josh Meeder (28:54):
Well, that's where all the Instagram and the
Facebook ads are coming in thisone pill for $100 a month
subscription will cureeverything that you have. And
it's really not the case.
Stephanie Graves (29:04):
Yeah, absolutely. And then,
Josh Meeder (29:08):
so now you've really helped someone along,
you've identified it, you'vedone in the labs, you're
testing, and now you're kind ofdoing into that stage of fine
tuning and balance and ongoinglifestyle. How does that work
for a client long term? BecauseI would imagine and I know the
business is young, so you're notinto that level, but like how do
(29:30):
you see helping your clients,you know, be healthy for their
lifetime through the differentstages of life?
Stephanie Graves (29:37):
Yeah, and so I mean, I would like to still see
them for routine follow up ifthey're, you know, stable, doing
well, maybe two, three times ayear really looking at labs to
track to make sure that we'restill on track, or do we need to
adjust anything or is anythingnew coming up? So tracking and
reassessing? And then that'swhere like I said, programs I do
(30:01):
have doing lots of brainstormingright now on programs that I
would love for new clients, andthen also existing ones kind of
like as a maintenance programthat they can follow, you know,
through their duration.
Josh Meeder (30:18):
Alright, so kind of rounding this out a little bit.
And there's just a couple otherquestions that came up. One. So
if if you people know thatthey're not where they need to
be, but what are some of the,say indicators or the red flags
that Hey, someone is in a spiralof inflammatory eating or
overstressed environment? Whatbody signals are what are
(30:40):
signals are they getting to lookfor? Yeah,
Stephanie Graves (30:43):
there's a lot of signals for sure. But the two
are the three biggestindicators, that signal that
someone you know, is in a poorstate, or that they would not be
in a healing state would besleep. So if someone is not
sleeping, no healing will occur.
Sleep is so important. It's likean it's these three things are
(31:06):
non negotiables, to healing, sosomeone's not sleeping. That's a
huge red flag. If someone is notpooping as glamorous as that
sounds, that is also a huge redflag. I mean, at its core,
moving our bowels is removingall of the toxins from our body.
So if someone isn't doing thatregularly, that means those
toxins are accumulating withininside of you. Or if someone's
(31:30):
blood sugar is dysregulated. Iftheir blood sugar is just doing
this all day long, it's going tobe really hard to implement any
sort of healing protocol. Sothose are also three things that
to look at when someone'scoming. You know, when they're
complaining of migraines, andthey're not pooping? Well,
(31:51):
first, we need to make sure weaddress that before moving
forward. But I mean, as far assymptoms that people could be
complaining of when they come tome, again, it's vast, it could
be migraines, it could beinsomnia, abdominal pain,
diarrhea, rash, burned out,just, you know, exhausted
flatlined. food sensitivities,ADHD, anxiety, depression, joint
(32:20):
pain, menopausal symptoms. I seejust about everything currently.
Josh Meeder (32:33):
could imagine well, we, there's a lot of help needed
out there. And just to kind ofgive people a little bit of a
framework for what is healthy.
So from a sleep perspective,what would you suggest? Like how
many, you know, what's anaverage bowel movement process
and then the sugar throughoutthe day, what does that look
like is that times of extremeexhaustion like the after lunch
(32:54):
crash, you know, just to kind ofwith understand that within
Stephanie Graves (33:00):
for sure, yeah, for sleep, I would aim for
seven to eight hours kind ofminimum of ideally on
uninterrupted sleep, and I and Idid a post recently, of like the
sleep non negotiables thatpeople can refer back to. And
then bowel movements once a day,like one to three times a day
(33:21):
really is normal. And you wantthem to be, you know, not super
loose, but not diarrhea. Andthen blood sugar regulation.
Yeah, you may notice that you'rereally irritable, or you're
really tired, or you're wakingup in the middle of the night
and you're wired. Those can allbe signs that your blood sugar
(33:43):
is dysregulated. And you can geteven just little glucometers off
of Amazon to track your bloodsugar throughout the day. But a
really good way to balance yourblood sugar is to try to eat a
good source of fat, fiber andprotein with each meal or snack,
(34:05):
and that will help balance yourblood sugar. So for example, My
son loves fruit. And he wouldeat fruit all day, which most
people be like, that's great.
But fruit does have a lot ofsugar. So you know, he eats an
apple is blood sugar is gonna goup real quick. And then it's
going to come right back down.
If he pears that say with peanutbutter or a handful of nuts.
(34:30):
It's gonna cause a more stableblood sugar reaction so that
he's not hangry 20 minutes laterasking for a banana chasing.
Josh Meeder (34:41):
And those are the small changes to write the
awareness. So you're not sayingcut out or change or completely.
It's just like, do it slightlydifferent.
Stephanie Graves (34:49):
Yeah. And that's a huge thing too, that I
also really stress is. I mean, Icould I could recommend 25
things to You know, you are thenext person. But that's not
helpful. There's a literally apart in your brain, the
amygdala, that your fear centerthat if you try to do too much
(35:10):
too fast, it's like, no, no, no,I'm comfortable being miserable.
Let's not rock the boat. So bymaking these one degree turns,
cumulatively, and over time, itreally can make a huge
Josh Meeder (35:25):
impact. Right?
Well, what do you have for theaudience out there just as kind
of your closing advice fromgetting yourself to healthier?
Whatever you're doing? And I'llshare your links here in the
comment section. But feel freeto tell us a little bit about
what you have going on with yourbusiness as well.
Stephanie Graves (35:45):
Yeah, absolutely. The last thing I'll
say is, I have a huge amount ofrespect for physicians, because
I know how hard that they work.
And my experience being in thefield that the system is just
broken. There's, there's way toomuch stress put on them to
expect to know everything, whichin turn puts a lot of pressure
(36:05):
on the patient, because thenthey're playing Dr. Google, and
they're feeling overwhelmed, andnot heard. So that's where I
come in to step in the middle,and really just provide that
education and that nutritionaland lifestyle support that
they're not getting otherwise.
So yes, if you are someone orfeeling that you're not up to
(36:30):
par, and not feeling well, justknowing that there is another
way. And if you're feelingfrustrated, again, or
overwhelmed with the medicalsystem, that's what I'm here
for. So I would love to be ableto help you and guide you
through this process and gettingyou back to your best self
because really, you deserve it.
And I know I've heard so manypeople. So many people are just
(36:50):
so tired, or sick. And oh, well.
I'm just getting old. That'sreally not a valid excuse. You
know, you should still be ableto enjoy your life and feel
well.
Josh Meeder (37:03):
Yeah. And to the listeners out there. You can
work online and remote withanyone anywhere in the country.
Yes, thank
Stephanie Graves (37:11):
you. COVID.
Yep. So I am doing virtualconcepts consults around the
world.
Josh Meeder (37:21):
That's wonderful.
And do you interface with yourclients, physicians if needed?
Stephanie Graves (37:26):
Yeah, absolutely. Particularly when it
comes to labs to so I can orderlabs through a third party.
Generally, insurance doesn'tcover it, which side note, I
also don't accept insurance. Andthat enables me to be able to
provide the best care and nothave to check their boxes or
play within their square. Sogenerally, I'm doing contact
(37:52):
with their providers regardinglabs and requesting labs that I
feel will best support theircare. And generally, they're I
mean, they're agreeable to thatthey, they more so than the
patient just showing up with alist of labs that, you know, I
said that I want it. So yeah,I'm super open to communicating
(38:13):
with them. Because overall,we're, I'm there to support
their mutual client or patientand I want what's best for them.
So I'm not trying to say thatthe physician is wrong or do
anything behind their back. I'mthere for them. Really?
Josh Meeder (38:29):
Yeah, it's a beautiful collaboration,
actually, because there'sprevention and maintenance and
then emergency and incorrection, you know, musicians
have a great place and a greatskill set and resources, but
it's also at a certain time, soI love the collaboration you're
bringing with that and, and it'sreally, as you mentioned, it's
(38:50):
for the patient's bestinterests. So I'm a good
Stephanie. I appreciate not onlyyour friendship, but I love
watching what you're creating. Iwish you all the best here. And
if you want to reach out toStephanie, please check out the
links in the product. In thecomments below. You can find her
online you can find her not onlyon the web, but on social media.
(39:13):
And thanks again for the timehere, Stephanie, and look
forward to seeing you and Ryanin the near future.
Stephanie Graves (39:20):
Yes, thank you again so much.
Josh Meeder (39:25):
Thank you for watching. If you liked what you
saw, be sure to hit that likeand subscribe button right now.
Stay tuned and check out thechannel for other interesting
and informative videos.
Welcome to the great things LLC podcast. The
show celebrating inspiringpeople who are making an impact
in the world, creating consciousbusinesses that are in alignment
with their own personal values.
Each episode shares the wisdom,experience and intention of
those that are following theirdream. Visionaries that have
chosen a different path, foundtheir purpose and create joy and
abundance while helping others.
(00:23):
Whether you're already atrailblazer, or still searching
for your own path, these storieswill inspire you towards being
the best version of yourself.
Welcome to the great things, LLCPodcast. I'm Josh Meeder, your
host and today, I'm reallyexcited to share the story that
Stephanie Graves is bringingforward because I think it's
going to land and resonate withso many people out there from
being highly performing highlysuccessful doing everything, the
(00:48):
mom, the family, the work towhat a lot of people find is a
quick path to burnout andimpacting your health and
Stephanie story show, she'sgoing to share that, and what
she's come through how she'scome through and what she's
doing today. So first off,welcome, Stephanie. It's great
to have you on here.
Stephanie Graves (01:10):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm super
excited to be here today.
Josh Meeder (01:14):
Yeah, so Stephanie and I, and her husband, Ryan met
several years ago at a wellnessworkshop and just had a really
great connection to fantasticpeople, lovely parents, and just
really found a good connection.
And since that point, Stephanie,I, you know, I followed both of
your adventures. And, you know,let's set the table a little bit
(01:35):
for the audience here to sharewhere you came from, you know,
from the physician's assistants,the successes, the challenges
you had, and what kind of reallybrought you to the point where
you had to make a shift?
Stephanie Graves (01:47):
Yeah, absolutely. So, yes, you're
correct. My background is as aphysician's assistant, which I
practiced for 11 years. Andinitially, it was very
rewarding. And I really feltlike I was making a difference
helping people particularly inmy first job, I worked in
surgery. So that was pretty muchlike instant gratification. You
(02:11):
know, I was seeing what I wasdoing right before my eyes
helping people. As time went on,and as I had children, twins,
and then a son, my prioritiesshifted. And during that time, I
was also struggling with my ownhealth crises. And I felt like I
(02:32):
was just being bounced fromprovider to specialists to
nutritionist, and no one wasreally taking the time to listen
or to help me or to do any ofthe deeper work that was really
needed to uncover what was goingon. They were just merely
treating the symptoms. All thewhile, too, as I mentioned, I
(02:55):
was starting to have someprofessional disenchantment, if
you will. As I was going throughthe wringer as a patient, I saw
on the other side, how patientswere just being it was like a
wheelhouse bring being broughtin and out as quickly as
possible. So I knew there had tobe a better way. And being the
(03:19):
one high achiever, I guess, ormaybe even a little bit stubborn
person that I am, I wasunwilling to accept that I was
just going to be on prescriptionmeds for the rest of my life. So
I explored a different avenue.
And a local one, a friend firstintroduced me to functional
(03:40):
nutrition. And instantly I was Iwas hooked, and I enrolled in
the coursework, and I completedtwo levels of certification.
And, and then I startedimplementing it not only in my
health, I mean, the issues thatI was struggling with radically
changed. I was no longer livingwith daily debilitating pain.
(04:03):
And then I was being able to, Iwas given the opportunity to
share this knowledge with all ofmy patients and seeing firsthand
the radical transformations thatwere happening in their lives
and giving them their livesback.
Josh Meeder (04:21):
And on let's for the audience, so functional
medicine, verse allopathic inthe traditional because I think
one thing people see is likedoctors and nurses, they went to
school, they study, they knowhow to be healthy. And and it's
a difference between functionalmedicine and your traditional
medicine of the West. Could youmaybe just help for the
(04:42):
listeners who aren't familiarwith functional medicine as to
what that is?
Stephanie Graves (04:46):
Absolutely. I think that's a really great
piece to dive into. So yeah, sofunctional medicine. First,
let's say traditional Westernmedicine and doctors are
wonderful. They are trained inMedicine, they are not trained
in nutrition. And I can speakfrom a vantage point of a PA. I
mean, I think our nutritioneducation was maybe like one
(05:11):
lecture. So in traditionalWestern medicine, it's medicine.
And it's mainly just symptoms.
So you go to the doctor, you'redepressed, you get an
antidepressant, you havediabetes, you get a medication
to treat diabetes. And my worldin the functional world, we're
looking much deeper, looking tothe roots of what caused your
(05:33):
depression, what caused yourdiabetes? And how can we make
shifts to the internal terrainthrough various diet and
lifestyle modifications, wherethe dysfunction took root, the
internals rain in order tocreate, you know, real
sustainable change. So we'repeeling back the layers and more
(05:54):
and more and digging deeper, toidentify what it is that caused
that so we can treat that. Andagain, in essence, resolve, you
know, their symptom or disorder.
Josh Meeder (06:08):
So, as I understand it, and am experienced and other
friends in the field, I thinkone of the things that just to
touch on a little bit is thechallenge with the almost the
psychology of the Americanpublic, and their approach to
medicine, because it's go to thedoctor to feel better to
alleviate the symptoms, butyou're really not really hitting
(06:29):
that root cause. So getting intothe functional medicine goes
deeper, but it is a longer moregradual and gentle. Shift. If
Yeah,
Stephanie Graves (06:39):
yeah, absolutely. And I often have to
remind patients or clients to,you know, for example, you're
coming to me for anxiety, ittook you 46 years to get to this
point, it's going to take morethan one visit to feel better,
you know, so there's a lot ofundoing and unraveling. And yes,
well I do is exploring muchdeeper. So that does take more
(07:00):
time to really investigate allof the factors that are
influencing disease or symptomexpression.
Josh Meeder (07:07):
And we'll get into this a little bit later. But
there's also not just thenutritional aspect, but the
emotional, the spiritual, theentire body, where trauma can
come in, can reside in thosedifferent things. So it's a more
holistic, and I think it's amore intuitive approach that
people just innately understand.
But it does take some work andsome investment in yourself to
get there. But let's jump backto your story. So you've been,
(07:30):
you know, you've found success,you've found a path that you
really liked. And then therewere some disenchantment, you
have these things you've gottennow through your functional
certification. Where where'sthis now starting to open up to
you where it leads you today?
With the functional healer.comand the services you're
(07:51):
providing?
Stephanie Graves (07:52):
Yeah, so before the functional healer was
officially born, I was stillworking as a PA, I was
homeschooling my children. Andlike you said, it was a quick
path to burnout. I mean, I'dalready been burnt out for
years. But I got to a pointwhere I just couldn't do all the
things and my PA career was notfulfilling to me. Yes, I was
(08:14):
helping people, but on someoneelse's clock and dime and I had
to fit into a box that I didn'treally fit into anymore. So had
to take make a really bigdecision, I couldn't homeschool
be a PA and start a business allwithin the span of the same
(08:34):
time. So I made a really bigdecision that I was going to
leave my super stable wellpaying with amazing benefits pa
career to really just dive intothis path and my passion and be
able to provide medicine in away that I feel is most
(08:55):
meaningful. So yes, and Marchthe functional healer.com was
born. And I launched my websiteand I'm currently accepting new
clients when I'm working with ona one on one basis and in the
near future. I would like tolaunch a program to to be able
to help more people becausethat's kind of where you get
(09:19):
stuck with one on one you canonly help so many people and
honestly I just want to helpeveryone because there's so much
misinformation out there and somany people are doing it wrong,
myself included. I thought I wasdoing all the right things. I
thought I was eating healthy. Ithought by running marathons I
was in top physical conditionbut in reality I was I was not
(09:42):
you know I was doing a lot ofthe wrong things. So I'm really
just here to educate people,provide them with the
information, share my story andhelp guide them along the way
because it's it is overwhelmingand it's it can be scary to do
it alone. Um,
Josh Meeder (10:01):
and with the right direction and the baseline, you
know, we'll talk a little bitabout how find finding those
baselines, finding where yourstasis is, once that's in place,
it becomes building. And, youknow, going back to making the
decision, this is where, youknow, I know I'm really curious
about is, that is a place whereso many people find themselves,
(10:25):
you know, in a disenfranchisedposition in their career unhappy
in their life wanting to make achange, but sometimes trapped by
circumstance and finance andincome and, and all the things
around it, like, how did you getpast that fear? What was your
support system? Or was it justsuch a lightning bolt of
clarity? You had no otherchoice? I'm really fascinated to
(10:46):
see what was got you over thehump there.
Stephanie Graves (10:49):
Yeah, well, you know, a little bit more
about our story than the rest.
But for the past four years, myfamily and I, we've basically
just been going on leaps offaith. And thus far, it seemed
to work out pretty well. Youknow, we're still all alive and
well. So that's kind of where wewere at, we also had a really
(11:09):
big move to move from NorthCarolina to Maine. So it seemed
like the perfect time to takethis leap. But yeah, there was
definitely pushback from family.
And I think just for fear of notbeing financially secure with
(11:29):
three young children, you know,which is understandable. But
again, I have a much biggervision and dream for all of
this. And I couldn't do that inthe constraints that I was in.
And I think more now than ever,people need to hear, you know,
the message that messages that Ihave, and they need functional
nutrition in their life. So Ican't just sit back and be quiet
(11:52):
about it anymore.
Josh Meeder (11:54):
From as small business coaching and
standpoint, it's amazing howmuch the people who love us the
most sometimes are, I don't sayyour biggest critic, but our
least supportive because they dohave our good intentions in mind
and our best interest, but theymight just not see the the
alternative path. Was thereanyone in your profession or
(12:16):
your career that help really,you know, encourage you along or
support you through this processof transition? Or did you just
go solo and jump off the cliff?
Stephanie Graves (12:26):
I think I just went solo and jumped off the
cliff. Yeah. I mean, the doctorsthat I worked for my last job
were were very supportive. Andfor the most part, they like,
let me practice the way that Iwanted to. But again, we did
kind of butt heads a little bitat the end, and nothing bad,
just the way that they practiceversus the way that I practice.
(12:47):
And it just kind of got to apoint where I just couldn't do
that any longer. And again, wewere looking at a move, so it
just kind of seemed like thestars aligned.
Josh Meeder (13:00):
Yeah, well, you know, kudos to you, to Ryan in
the family for being able tohave that support in that faith
to do it, because that's a hugemove and want to really
acknowledge that. And so nowwe're here today, and your
practice is starting up. Andwhen we were talking, what
really struck me was was yourstory and how common it is, you
(13:22):
know, with those in the highperforming roles, those in the
parenting roles, those inrelationships, all these things
coming in from life and in lifeis a fast pace. So I know you
you've always cooked well, andyou know, you enjoy good food,
but even that sometimes is thewrong food for our body. So when
(13:43):
I heard it, it's like, oh, yeah,do I know anyone who's high
performing high functioning,maybe high anxiety over
functioning, over achieving, youknow, struggling with
perfectionism? Like, that'spretty common out there. And so
how let's start there, becausethat's, you know, from what we
discussed a fairly bigpopulation that you have, what
(14:04):
do you do with those folks? Howdo you take that first step and
roll back what they've developedover 1020 30 years of lifestyle?
Stephanie Graves (14:12):
Yeah, yeah. So for any client, no matter where
they're coming in, the firststep is really is to clean up
the diet. So it may seem notimportant. But as cliche as it
sounds, everything really doesstart in the gut. So if you're
constantly eating inflammatoryfoods, and those are an intern,
(14:34):
sending inflammatory messages toyour brain, since your gut and
brain communicate very closely,the longest nerve in your body,
then that's only going toperpetuate and worsen any of
those, you know, ruminatingthoughts or anxiety or fear of
failure, any of those things.
So, really just and also, thebiggest thing is meeting people
where they are to so looking attheir food journals. Are they
(14:56):
eating sandwiches? Foods, yes,okay, let's remove those in a
stepwise fashion if they're not,or once they've done that, then
really just looking atlifestyle. And for me, I feel
the biggest thing that I did wasto, to drop my body into that
healing state because whenyou're in that constant fight or
(15:17):
flight mode, that sympatheticresponse, the same response
that's triggered when you'rerunning away from a bear. Or if
you're chronically stressed,because of job, kids,
relationships, lack of sleep,under eating, even all the
things, the same response istriggered. So really, dropping
(15:40):
into that healing state, thebiggest thing I found was taking
things off my list was removingresponsibilities and
obligations, and really justfocusing on the things that
really filled me up and kind ofdisconnecting from some of those
other things. So for example,like I said, I used to run
(16:01):
marathons. Now I do yoga, and Iwalk not because I don't love
running, because it wasn'tserving me, because honestly, I
was running, looking back now inhindsight to escape. From what,
from my reality? So really justlooking at the things that
(16:22):
you're doing every day? Are theybringing you joy? Or are they
depleting your energy? Or areyou using it as you know, an
escape or a coping mechanism,and really just sitting with
yourself and exploring whatyou're doing every day?
Josh Meeder (16:47):
It's interesting on that part about change, because
I would imagine this is probablyone of the hardest hurdles or
objections for people ischanging habits, right, we are
creatures of habits, our brainsare literally wired, to seek
comfort and avoid discomfort.
And it almost is like a griefprocess giving up a relationship
that you had. So if you'd likedyour morning bagel, you know,
(17:09):
with your cream cheese, andyou've done it for five years,
that kind of creates a loop apattern. And, and so it's you
almost have to go through agrief process of changing
habits. And when you're notaware of that, that sneaks up
sideways sometimes. But let'stalk I want to just go back a
little bit to help kind of bringthe audience in on the concept
(17:30):
of inflammatory foods, andreally, why why is the food
causing inflammation? And how isit affecting your brain? You
know, just to bring people up tospeed on that?
Stephanie Graves (17:43):
Yeah, absolutely. And that was a great
point you mentioned before. Soone of the things that I do
that's very unique is I providea ton of education in my visits,
because again, it makes it mucheasier to give up that morning
bagel, if you understand thenegative implications it's
having on your health, versusjust saying don't eat the bagel,
you know? So yeah, so there'sfour common kind of groups of
(18:08):
foods that are inflammatory, sogluten, dairy, processed foods,
and refined sugars, and each ofthem cause inflammation and
slightly different ways. Buteither way, like I mentioned,
your gut and your brain areconnected to the longest nerve
in your body. And those signalsactually go both ways. So
(18:30):
anything you put in your mouth,sends messages to your brain,
good, bad or indifferent. Viceversa. Anything that's happening
up here sends messages to yourgut. So that can often be a
telltale sign to if anxiety,depression, ADHD, any mental
health symptom can present as giside effects, which is what I
(18:56):
was experiencing. Also,interestingly 95% of your
serotonin is produced in yourgut. So if you're constantly
just putting foods in there,that are inflammatory depleting
your body of serotonin that'salso going to help you know
negatively impact how you'refeeling overall. So the first
(19:17):
step again, is really just toremove those inflammatory foods.
And then once we've done that,then it's called clearing the
Muddy Waters, if you will, thenwe have a much better idea of
okay, what's really going on andthey are what you know, their
their main complaint was onceremoved these things that we
know are skewing the picture.
Now, now, where are they at andoftentimes, just cleaning up the
(19:40):
diet can be significant enoughfor resolution. Certainly not
always, but can oftentimes havea big enough impact. That you
know, maybe very little isneeded elsewhere.
Josh Meeder (19:59):
That was what I was getting That's because diet in
you know, found this personallyto is so much impacts everything
you know, I've heard thestatement you can't outrun your
mouse. So if you're not eatingwell, there's no amount of
running you can do.
Unfortunately, I've never hadthe affliction of running
marathons like you have. So I'vestayed away from long term
running, but the basis ofcleaning up the diet, like what
(20:21):
are some of the things that arecommon that you might see with
your patients and in yourclients after just cleaning up
their diets? Is it you know,more mental clarity, increased
energy, better digestion? Whatdo you see typically, after the
diets been balanced?
Stephanie Graves (20:38):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it depends
to where they came in out. But,you know, yes, a lot, you know,
loss of abdominal pain, or ifthey were having cramping, or
diarrhea, improved skin, youknow, no more eczema or acne,
improved energy. better sleepreally just runs the whole
(21:00):
gamut. So these inflammatoryfoods, oftentimes, the body has
to supply its own energy tobreak them down. And, and then
in return, there's usuallylittle nutrients gained. Because
generally, those foods don'thave a ton of the nutrients.
Yes, gluten and dairy may havesome nutrients, but at its core,
(21:24):
whether or not you have foodsensitivities, or not those
those foods do cause increasedinflammation in the body. And we
know that inflammation is one ofthe roots of all chronic
diseases. So yeah, I mean, itreally, it really does run the
gamut. And I know for myself, Imean, I certainly abstained from
those foods. If I were to havesomething, maybe I would be
(21:50):
symptomatic. Maybe not, youknow, now that I've gone so long
without them. Personally, I likefeeling good. So I don't like to
take it by chance. Butoftentimes, people or clients
will say, oh, like, you know, Iwent out to eat, and I had a
pizza or something. And that wasthat night, I was sick in the
bathroom, you know, all nightlong. So I mean, your body is
(22:15):
giving you signals. Every day,it's just whether or not you're
willing to listen to what it hasto say, or if you're just gonna
continue pressing on.
Josh Meeder (22:25):
Yeah, for all the expenses and technology we have
for medical diagnosis, the bodyis one of the most accurate in
one of the first lines to getthat your body and your
emotional state will be tellingyou that and then segwaying with
the emotional states, so kind ofnow going into, we've got a
clean diet. And there's theseother underlying issues of
(22:49):
whether it be trauma, anxiety,resiliency, lack of resiliency,
what is kind of step two, in theprocess that you're guiding your
clients through?
Stephanie Graves (22:57):
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, step one is
definitely cleaning up the dietto like I said, is how can we
get the body into that healingparasympathetic state, so
dropping down from that survivalmode state that so many of us
live in all the time to gettinginto that healing,
parasympathetic state, so thatcould look different, again, for
(23:19):
everyone could look likeremoving things off your, your,
you know, to do lists, scalingback on exercise, focusing on
sleep, doing trauma work,because the body, the physical
body, so it holds so muchemotional trauma? So there's
obviously various modalities todo so. But doing trauma work, in
(23:43):
my experience, has been the mostprofound healing for me to
really get to the core of why amI anxious? And how do I moved
through this so certainly, youknow, doing everything
functionally brought me leapsand bounds ahead of where I was
and then doing trauma workreally just kind of brought
(24:05):
everything together for me.
Josh Meeder (24:08):
The trauma work and you know, being familiar in in
that myself for years, I'vealways heard the example is you
know, your you have your brainand it's the computer and like
computers, there's an operatingsystem and no matter what your
pro program, you slide into it,it still runs based on the
operating system and that traumawork is actually getting into
(24:31):
the brain and rewiring theoperating system so it performs
differently. And a lot a lot oftimes whether it be in coaching
in my profession or in yours,those trauma wounds whether they
be the third grade where youdidn't get the you know, called
for the school course or youfelt dumb because of an AP test,
(24:53):
manifest and come out completelysideways in unexpected ways and
until you can touch on thatplace. You kinda repeating
subconscious patterns.
Stephanie Graves (25:02):
Yeah, yeah.
And it's wild to once you startdoing the work to see the
stories that have been createdover time and exactly, and it
takes a lot of practice to, torewire your brain. I mean, I'm,
I'm at a much better place nowwith my anxiety, but I do catch
myself, sometimes getting caughtin that loop and my, and my
husband, you know, he's alsovery much invested in this work.
(25:25):
So it's nice to have a supportperson who can recognize it and
be like, Hey, Stephanie, I thinkyou might be, you know, in
anxiety mode right now, like,you know, take a step back. So
that's, that is helpful. But,um, yeah, and I find that
another analogy that I use,whenever I was in, working in
practice, as a PA, before doingmy functional training, I used
(25:49):
to tell people that treating anymental health disorder is most
effective with pharmacology andtherapy. Well, I don't really
promote pharmacology, in thatsense any longer. So where I am
now I feel like treating anymental health or, you know,
trauma response is mosteffective through functional
(26:12):
nutrition, and doing some sortof trauma work blending those
together to really just treatingthe whole comprehensively.
Josh Meeder (26:23):
Yeah. Which is a good point, I hope, I hope out
there is that there's the shifttowards understanding that where
there's not one modality, notone magic bullet, it's a
holistic approach to physical,emotional, and mental health all
together. Yeah. So we're gettinginto that baseline, that healthy
(26:45):
state environment. Now you'vegotten your diet under control
we're working through we're kindof figuring out issues, we're
starting to catch patterns andthings and becoming more aware
of our reaction. What are whatare the where do we go next?
What's that look like?
Stephanie Graves (27:02):
Yeah, usually, at this point, if, again, the
diets optimized, were more in ahealing state would be looking
at labs. So I usually don't lookat labs, right? You know, away
not until maybe the third orfourth visit, even and seeing
are there some markers therethat are off, that could use
(27:23):
some shifting up to thefunctional range to an essence
also help downstream factors.
And the way that I look at Labsalso is very different than,
say, your primary Doc, I'mlooking at the functional range.
So where is it that you're, forexample, vitamin D, is
functional? So where is it mostoptimized? Versus your dog is
(27:45):
looking at the pathologicalrange? So they're looking at
where does the disease exist?
I'm looking at labs to try tocatch it before that point
before you're really ill. And wecan bring things back up to
baseline, you know, gently, thatway. So yeah, looking at labs to
(28:07):
see if there's anything therethat could be shifted or could
explain what's still going on.
And also, you know, adding onany support of supplements to so
it's really important to do thediet, and the dietary cleanup,
and then working on getting outof that fight or flight mode
first. Because if you just comeout of the gate hot with
(28:31):
supplements, and there still isinflammatory foods, and you're
still not in a healing state,they're not going to have any
room or space to work, you'rebasically just going to be
wasting your money. So there issome work upfront to be done
before we jump into fancyprotocols and supplements and
those exotic things I think alot of people just jump to
first.
Josh Meeder (28:54):
Well, that's where all the Instagram and the
Facebook ads are coming in thisone pill for $100 a month
subscription will cureeverything that you have. And
it's really not the case.
Stephanie Graves (29:04):
Yeah, absolutely. And then,
Josh Meeder (29:08):
so now you've really helped someone along,
you've identified it, you'vedone in the labs, you're
testing, and now you're kind ofdoing into that stage of fine
tuning and balance and ongoinglifestyle. How does that work
for a client long term? BecauseI would imagine and I know the
business is young, so you're notinto that level, but like how do
(29:30):
you see helping your clients,you know, be healthy for their
lifetime through the differentstages of life?
Stephanie Graves (29:37):
Yeah, and so I mean, I would like to still see
them for routine follow up ifthey're, you know, stable, doing
well, maybe two, three times ayear really looking at labs to
track to make sure that we'restill on track, or do we need to
adjust anything or is anythingnew coming up? So tracking and
reassessing? And then that'swhere like I said, programs I do
(30:01):
have doing lots of brainstormingright now on programs that I
would love for new clients, andthen also existing ones kind of
like as a maintenance programthat they can follow, you know,
through their duration.
Josh Meeder (30:18):
Alright, so kind of rounding this out a little bit.
And there's just a couple otherquestions that came up. One. So
if if you people know thatthey're not where they need to
be, but what are some of the,say indicators or the red flags
that Hey, someone is in a spiralof inflammatory eating or
overstressed environment? Whatbody signals are what are
(30:40):
signals are they getting to lookfor? Yeah,
Stephanie Graves (30:43):
there's a lot of signals for sure. But the two
are the three biggestindicators, that signal that
someone you know, is in a poorstate, or that they would not be
in a healing state would besleep. So if someone is not
sleeping, no healing will occur.
Sleep is so important. It's likean it's these three things are
(31:06):
non negotiables, to healing, sosomeone's not sleeping. That's a
huge red flag. If someone is notpooping as glamorous as that
sounds, that is also a huge redflag. I mean, at its core,
moving our bowels is removingall of the toxins from our body.
So if someone isn't doing thatregularly, that means those
toxins are accumulating withininside of you. Or if someone's
(31:30):
blood sugar is dysregulated. Iftheir blood sugar is just doing
this all day long, it's going tobe really hard to implement any
sort of healing protocol. Sothose are also three things that
to look at when someone'scoming. You know, when they're
complaining of migraines, andthey're not pooping? Well,
(31:51):
first, we need to make sure weaddress that before moving
forward. But I mean, as far assymptoms that people could be
complaining of when they come tome, again, it's vast, it could
be migraines, it could beinsomnia, abdominal pain,
diarrhea, rash, burned out,just, you know, exhausted
flatlined. food sensitivities,ADHD, anxiety, depression, joint
(32:20):
pain, menopausal symptoms. I seejust about everything currently.
Josh Meeder (32:33):
could imagine well, we, there's a lot of help needed
out there. And just to kind ofgive people a little bit of a
framework for what is healthy.
So from a sleep perspective,what would you suggest? Like how
many, you know, what's anaverage bowel movement process
and then the sugar throughoutthe day, what does that look
like is that times of extremeexhaustion like the after lunch
(32:54):
crash, you know, just to kind ofwith understand that within
Stephanie Graves (33:00):
for sure, yeah, for sleep, I would aim for
seven to eight hours kind ofminimum of ideally on
uninterrupted sleep, and I and Idid a post recently, of like the
sleep non negotiables thatpeople can refer back to. And
then bowel movements once a day,like one to three times a day
(33:21):
really is normal. And you wantthem to be, you know, not super
loose, but not diarrhea. Andthen blood sugar regulation.
Yeah, you may notice that you'rereally irritable, or you're
really tired, or you're wakingup in the middle of the night
and you're wired. Those can allbe signs that your blood sugar
(33:43):
is dysregulated. And you can geteven just little glucometers off
of Amazon to track your bloodsugar throughout the day. But a
really good way to balance yourblood sugar is to try to eat a
good source of fat, fiber andprotein with each meal or snack,
(34:05):
and that will help balance yourblood sugar. So for example, My
son loves fruit. And he wouldeat fruit all day, which most
people be like, that's great.
But fruit does have a lot ofsugar. So you know, he eats an
apple is blood sugar is gonna goup real quick. And then it's
going to come right back down.
If he pears that say with peanutbutter or a handful of nuts.
(34:30):
It's gonna cause a more stableblood sugar reaction so that
he's not hangry 20 minutes laterasking for a banana chasing.
Josh Meeder (34:41):
And those are the small changes to write the
awareness. So you're not sayingcut out or change or completely.
It's just like, do it slightlydifferent.
Stephanie Graves (34:49):
Yeah. And that's a huge thing too, that I
also really stress is. I mean, Icould I could recommend 25
things to You know, you are thenext person. But that's not
helpful. There's a literally apart in your brain, the
amygdala, that your fear centerthat if you try to do too much
(35:10):
too fast, it's like, no, no, no,I'm comfortable being miserable.
Let's not rock the boat. So bymaking these one degree turns,
cumulatively, and over time, itreally can make a huge
Josh Meeder (35:25):
impact. Right?
Well, what do you have for theaudience out there just as kind
of your closing advice fromgetting yourself to healthier?
Whatever you're doing? And I'llshare your links here in the
comment section. But feel freeto tell us a little bit about
what you have going on with yourbusiness as well.
Stephanie Graves (35:45):
Yeah, absolutely. The last thing I'll
say is, I have a huge amount ofrespect for physicians, because
I know how hard that they work.
And my experience being in thefield that the system is just
broken. There's, there's way toomuch stress put on them to
expect to know everything, whichin turn puts a lot of pressure
(36:05):
on the patient, because thenthey're playing Dr. Google, and
they're feeling overwhelmed, andnot heard. So that's where I
come in to step in the middle,and really just provide that
education and that nutritionaland lifestyle support that
they're not getting otherwise.
So yes, if you are someone orfeeling that you're not up to
(36:30):
par, and not feeling well, justknowing that there is another
way. And if you're feelingfrustrated, again, or
overwhelmed with the medicalsystem, that's what I'm here
for. So I would love to be ableto help you and guide you
through this process and gettingyou back to your best self
because really, you deserve it.
And I know I've heard so manypeople. So many people are just
(36:50):
so tired, or sick. And oh, well.
I'm just getting old. That'sreally not a valid excuse. You
know, you should still be ableto enjoy your life and feel
well.
Josh Meeder (37:03):
Yeah. And to the listeners out there. You can
work online and remote withanyone anywhere in the country.
Yes, thank
Stephanie Graves (37:11):
you. COVID.
Yep. So I am doing virtualconcepts consults around the
world.
Josh Meeder (37:21):
That's wonderful.
And do you interface with yourclients, physicians if needed?
Stephanie Graves (37:26):
Yeah, absolutely. Particularly when it
comes to labs to so I can orderlabs through a third party.
Generally, insurance doesn'tcover it, which side note, I
also don't accept insurance. Andthat enables me to be able to
provide the best care and nothave to check their boxes or
play within their square. Sogenerally, I'm doing contact
(37:52):
with their providers regardinglabs and requesting labs that I
feel will best support theircare. And generally, they're I
mean, they're agreeable to thatthey, they more so than the
patient just showing up with alist of labs that, you know, I
said that I want it. So yeah,I'm super open to communicating
(38:13):
with them. Because overall,we're, I'm there to support
their mutual client or patientand I want what's best for them.
So I'm not trying to say thatthe physician is wrong or do
anything behind their back. I'mthere for them. Really?
Josh Meeder (38:29):
Yeah, it's a beautiful collaboration,
actually, because there'sprevention and maintenance and
then emergency and incorrection, you know, musicians
have a great place and a greatskill set and resources, but
it's also at a certain time, soI love the collaboration you're
bringing with that and, and it'sreally, as you mentioned, it's
(38:50):
for the patient's bestinterests. So I'm a good
Stephanie. I appreciate not onlyyour friendship, but I love
watching what you're creating. Iwish you all the best here. And
if you want to reach out toStephanie, please check out the
links in the product. In thecomments below. You can find her
online you can find her not onlyon the web, but on social media.
(39:13):
And thanks again for the timehere, Stephanie, and look
forward to seeing you and Ryanin the near future.
Stephanie Graves (39:20):
Yes, thank you again so much.
Josh Meeder (39:25):
Thank you for watching. If you liked what you
saw, be sure to hit that likeand subscribe button right now.
Stay tuned and check out thechannel for other interesting
and informative videos.
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