Today’s post is all about my client, Claire! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen highlights of Claire’s journey, but I wanted to recap her progress here.

What Claire has been able to accomplish in the last year is absolutely incredible. I’ll let her share her testimonial first, and then we’ll dive into five lessons from Claire’s transformation (you can apply them to your journey, too!). 

Claire discovered that unsuspected food sensitivities were the biggest contributors to her cystic acne. (Namely nuts and nightshades — who would have guessed?!) These days, she enjoys clear, happy skin! You CAN’T get these kind of a results from topical product, when the root cause is systemic inflammation caused by food sensitivities.

Claire’s Testimonial: I began working with Holly just over a year ago. I was tired of the same old yo-yo diet routine and binge eating that had run my life for the past seven years. I was struggling with managing my autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s), I was uncomfortable in my body, and overall unhappy with my life. I had done a couple rounds of Whole30 and a round of the autoimmune paleo protocol on my own, but didn’t see the changes that I knew I could.

 

Holly personalized a plan that would accommodate my autoimmune disease. It took months of slowly reintroducing foods with her guidance, but I was able to find my food freedom, something I struggled to find on my own. Working with her has transformed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I quit my unfulfilling corporate job and started diving into personal development and spiritual work. After successfully completing food reintroductions, I have more energy, cleared my cystic acne, lost body fat, my hair started growing back, I overcame crippling anxiety, recovered from binge eating, and gained more confidence — just to name a few.

 

I can’t even begin to thank Holly for the enormous impact she’s had on my life. Her unwavering support, friendship, and love has helped me grow in more ways than I knew possible. There truly aren’t enough words or mountain tops to yell from for me to show my appreciation. Holly is not only an extremely talented coach, but an amazing example of someone who walks the talk of health and wellness. I couldn’t be luckier to have her as a partner through my health journey. 

Claire’s symptom burden score improvement, about 1.5 months after starting on her protocol. I use the Symptom Burden Graph as a tool in my practice to help clients track improvements in how they are feeling.

5 Lessons from Claire’s Transformation

1. Harness the Healing Power of Belief and Commitment

Do you ever see stories like Claire’s and wonder, “How were they able to do that?” What I’ve learned on my healing journey — and from guiding clients like Claire through their own transformation — is that it’s rarely about the “how” or the “what,” and it’s usually about the mindset and attitude you’re willing to cultivate.

I’m not going to share the nitty-gritty details of Claire’s protocol, or the step-by-step guidelines she followed. These wouldn’t be relevant to you anyway, because you are a different human with different challenges! But I do want to share her attitude and outlook, because Claire’s belief and commitment made all the difference. 

From the beginning, Claire had a strong vision of the life she wanted for herself. She drew her line in the sand and made a DECISION that her old ways were no longer working for her. When things got hard — and they did! — she still had the tenacity to keep going, because she made a decision that things were going to be different. Not “I hope things will change,” or “Maybe I can finally get a handle on my health,” but “I am going to get a handle on my health, EVEN when it’s hard.” Feel the difference? That difference makes all the difference. 

2. Pull Your Head Out of the Sand and Get Real About Your Food Sensitivities

Before working with me, Claire had already done some detective work to identify her food sensitivities via Whole30 and the autoimmune paleo protocol. While she had a fairly good idea of the foods that were causing her symptoms, I think she was in denial about a few (and I say that with love!). 

Getting real about your food sensitivities can be tough, especially if the foods you’re sensitive to are culinary staples or they happen to be on your list of favorites. When this is the case, it’s easy to brush them under the rug or pretend like they don’t exist. You know how it goes: “La la la la la, gee, I wonder why my stomach is in knots and my face is breaking out like crazy. What? You think it’s the dairy? No way, I don’t have a problem with dairy!”

But when you’re struggling with severe symptoms, like those caused by Claire’s autoimmune condition, keeping your head buried in the sand will only impede your healing. 

Through careful elimination and reintroduction, Claire was able to identify that nightshades (e.g., tomatoes, peppers, etc.) were one of the biggest triggers for her cystic acne and autoimmune flares. And even though this was super annoying (tomatoes are in everything, especially when eating out!), she pulled her head out of the sand and decided to eat nightshade-free as much as possible. 

When she does eat nightshades, whether accidentally or intentionally, she knows what the consequences will be, which puts her in a place of power instead of victimhood. No more, “Ugh, I feel like crap and I have nooooooo idea why!” When you know why, you can own the choice and know that you are not a victim of your body.

Claire has achieved so many health benefits, healthy weight loss included.

3. Be Willing to Look at Other Areas of Your Life Besides Food

Y’all, this is huge. You can eat all the right foods, take all the right supplements, and work out with a superstar trainer, but if you’re not willing to look at the elephants in your metaphorical living room, you’re not going to get very far. 

Claire was willing to have a showdown in some areas of her life that weren’t serving her. It took a ton of bravery, but she ditched a toxic job, let go of toxic friendships, started showing up in the world unapologetically, and took some time to rest. She didn’t only “cut” the bad things, but she added in good things, too: she found a job she loves, she’s exploring things that light her up, and she’s taking more time for fun and play. If she hadn’t done these things, she wouldn’t be enjoying the health she’s thriving with today. 

I know we hear “stress is a killer!” and “you have to eliminate stress!” all the time, but it’s tossed around so much that it’s become meaningless. But it’s true! If you spend eight hours or more at a job you hate, living in the vibration of hate all day long, there is NO adrenal supplement that’s going to counteract that. Period. 

She didn’t do all these things at once. She did them little by little, layer by layer, so they were manageable. It didn’t make the experience any less painful or awkward, but I know she’s glad she made these hard choices.

4. Cut the supplement overload (and overload in general).

What’s better — having 22 super-fancy, pharmacy-grade, personalized supplements that you forget to take 90 percent of the time, or having three high-quality supplements that you can remember to take most of the time? (It’s the latter. Always.)

When Claire started working with me, she had a list of supplements from her previous practitioner that was a mile long. I’m not bashing other practitioners, or saying that complex protocols aren’t always necessary, because sometimes they are. 

But in many cases, complex supplement protocols are just that — complex. And incredibly overwhelming to the client. I’m of the mindset that less is more. If supplements are necessary, I’m always checking in with the client to see how they feel about the amount of supplements they’re taking, and how they’re working.  

In the beginning, we narrowed it down to the two most important things for Claire to take, and taking them with consistency made a huge difference for her. We added in other things as needed, over time, but only if it felt manageable. 

Pro tip: this goes for any sort of routine you’re trying to establish. If you’re trying to do ALL THE THINGS at once, you’ll probably get frustrated and throw in the towel. Start small and only add in more when you’ve built the habit and gained the confidence. 

5. Be patient and forgiving with yourself.

This is probably the most important one of all. Know that setbacks are part of the process, and be OK with that! Perfection is the fastest path to failure.

Claire has had many setbacks on her journey, but she’s always approached them with grace and self-compassion. She spent a long time trying to do it the other way, by attempting to be “perfect” and punishing herself when she “fell off the wagon.” She learned over time that perfection and punishment only dug her deeper into a hole of shame, taking her farther away from her health goals.

Guess what? She ate foods that she knew wouldn’t agree with her. Sometimes her fatigue, anxiety, or joint pain would flare up. She faced fear of judgement from other people. Sometimes the scale didn’t say what she hoped it would. She had bad days and “meh” days. But she kept going anyway.

This is the secret, right here: do not let your circumstances (a crappy mood, a bad day, a poor decision, etc.), steer you off your path. Know that they are part of your path, and keep moving down the path regardless. Don’t turn the car around. Keep driving. You’ll get there.

Claire cut her thyroid antibodies in half using diet and lifestyle alone! She did this after a doctor told her it wasn’t possible to lower her antibodies. Hashimoto’s WIN! Here she is celebrating her victory on Instagram.

A final word — I had to save the best for last! Claire had lab work done recently, and learned that in the time that we’ve been working together, she’s cut her thyroid antibodies IN HALF! If you’ve ever struggled with Hashimoto’s, or any other autoimmune condition, you know what a big deal this is. (In fact, doctors told her it would be impossible.)

Congrats, Claire! You are your own greatest healer!

Let’s give this woman some LOVE in the comments below. She has worked so hard for these victories!