The word is also an acronym, and it encompasses the vision we hold for all women and stands for:

If you have ever been to a conventionally trained physician (MD or DO), you may have experienced this scenario:

You feel unwell and so you schedule an appointment to see your doctor. Your intention is to get ‘a fix’ for what it is that ails you. Society and the medical establishment feed us subtle subconscious suggestions that when we get ill, we are in some shape or form broken. So, we schedule the appointment, and our doctor tells us what we need to do ‘to get fixed’.  Right? Well not exactly…..….

Part of the reason is that a lot of times we don’t completely understand what our doctor tells us in that rushed often double-booked 15-minute office visit. The other reason is that we are not really told what to do about our lifestyle choices.

You see research shows that up to 80% of chronic illness is related to lifestyle choices.

Ok, so we know on an intuitive level that if you eat too much fast food and don’t exercise, you’re likely to gain a lot of weight and end up obese. But there are a number of other factors under lifestyle choices which are things we may not be fully aware of. For example, exposure to toxins from our skincare products, plastic containers that disrupt our hormones, pesticides in our food and environment, or hidden mold in our homes and/or places of work which may be making us sick. So, your doctor telling you to go home and exercise and ‘eat right’ is generic albeit well-meaning advice.

As a member of THRIVE Functional Health, we collaborate to create a personalized blueprint to address the root cause of the lifestyle and other issues we uncover together which may be causing your illness in order to restore your health and wellbeing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I say this all the time- If you are having a heart attack, I need you to go to an emergency room and get the acute care you need to undo that heart blockage! 

Conventional medicine definitely plays a role in acute illness and that is what it is excellent for. But it also has its blind spots and hasn’t done such a great job when it comes to combating the rise in chronic illness.

According to the CDC, six in ten adults have one chronic illness. Four in ten have two or more chronic illnesses.

Because of my passion for wanting to promote health and wellness, I became aware of these blind spots in my conventional training when it comes to treating and potentially reversing chronic illness. This is why I went on to pursue additional training first as a professional life coach and then most recently as a functional medicine practitioner. 

I firmly believe that our bodies want to be in the natural state of wellness.

But, illness will and can occur. And so, as an allopathic physician I am able to identify and treat acute illness, whilst at the same time using functional medicine tools to promote healing, help to restore health, and optimize wellness. Plus, with my skills as a trained life coach, I work to create a safe, therapeutic, and collaborative space with my patients or clients where they are able to participate fully in optimizing their health and wellbeing.

This unique blend of allopathy, functional medicine and coaching is what sets THRIVE Functional Health apart from others.

Resilience is defined as the ability of an organism to bounce back from adversity. Most times resilience is used as a psychological term.  The longer we live, the more likely we will be faced with adversities in life such as loss of loved ones, a loss of health, or some other challenge that could destabilize us. We must have tools to develop psychological resilience.

But there is another component of resilience called ‘metabolic resilience’. I am very passionate about promoting awareness of this because I firmly believe without boosting our metabolic health, we cannot live fully functional lives particularly as we age. 

Metabolic Resilience is the ability of the body to recover its equilibrium after it has been destabilized by an insult.

These insults could be mental, spiritual, physical or emotional. We all know of the mind-body connection. In order to THRIVE, you need to have the resilience to withstand potential metabolic insults so that you can maintain your body in optimal balance.

As a member of THRIVE Functional Health, we work together to optimize your metabolic health.

Our inner vision is the compass that directs our life goals. 

Our inner vision should be bigger than us and something we will spend a lifetime achieving. 

Our inner vision needs to go beyond things such as being debt-free, having a great retirement plan, a perfect weight, a fashionable hairstyle, or a wrinkle-free face.  As women over fifty, we are a force to be reckoned with. In recent years, we are constantly hearing about the need for the rise in feminine energy.

Christiane Northrup, MD writes in her book “The Wisdom of Menopause”:

“As a woman in midlife today, I am part of a growing population that is an unprecedented 48.5 million strong in the United States alone. This group is no longer invisible and silent, but a force to be reckoned with- educated, vocal, sophisticated in our knowledge of medical science, and determined to take control of our own health….. more than 48 million women, all undergoing the same sort of circuitry update at the same time. By virtue of our sheer numbers, as well as our social and economic influence, we are powerful- and potentially dangerous to any institution built upon the status quo.”

As a member of THRIVE Functional Health we are committed to living our vision well into our golden years. We craft an inner vision for the legacy we intend to leave on the planet. This vision pulls us forward individually and collectively for the good of the planet.

Vitality means life force, being strong, active, and filled with energy. It is from the root word- Vita which means life. In order to THRIVE, we must have vitality. Too often I meet women over fifty who subscribe to the myth that they are ‘over the hill’, they complain of constant fatigue and lack of energy.  What does that look like living the next ten, twenty, thirty years constantly feeling drained and depleted and unable to enjoy your life?

As a member of THRIVE Functional Health we work together to address the root cause of what is depleting your energy, in order to restore your zest to live your purpose well into your golden years.

When I initially thought of incorporating excellence into the mission of THRIVE, the perfectionist in me reared its ugly head. But I came to acknowledge that excellence is not perfection. 

Excellence is being very outstanding and very good at something. What better time than now to be very good at living our best lives? 

We may have spent years prior to being mothers, caregivers, nurturers, and just not had the time to care for and nurture ourselves.

As a member of THRIVE Functional Health we stop placing our needs on the backburner and take the time to practice self-care without guilt, because we know this encompasses true excellence.