The XYZ and Spring Cleaning

After my interview on Tuesday I heard back pretty quickly from my admissions counselor.  

ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will need to complete an Anatomy and Physiology class along with my core Fundamentals of Functional Medicine class this Fall as part of my admissions approval, and I am A-OK with that!  I learned that starting in Spring 2015 you will have to hold a professional / medical degree already in order to even be considered for acceptance into this program, so I am very happy that I made it in.

I have been learning a lot about synchronicity and lately I have been feeling it resonate through different aspects of my life.  My friend Lainey told me last year when I was really struggling with some changes in my life that my body will tell me if I am on the right path because the Universe always answers our call.  Boy was she right!  Ever since I have laid my intentions out and spoke them aloud, things have been lining up for me left and right.  The biggest lesson in all of this is that it is not enough to just pine over dreams in secret.  We must tell them to people and share our goals with the Universe.  

In my Teaching the Hormone Cure course through Dr. Sara Gottfried,  she has asked us to write our XYZ.  My name is X, I help Y by doing Z.  This got me thinking.  Hmmmm...  What exactly is my drive and desire for doing all of this?

My first run XYZ looks something like this:

Hello my name is Jenniferlyn Kryvicky and I am a Certified Holistic Health Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and nutritionist who through a functional lens dives deep into the root causes of my clients chronic and systemic problems with fatigue, hormone imbalance, and digestive issues to create balance, health and wellness that allows them to not only thrive, but to SHINE.  Warning: Side effects may include restored energy, weight loss, life balance, and a general sense of awesome. 

During writing my XYZ I had some other thoughts that came out more like a manifesto or statement of purpose.  In taking the XYZ approach further, I decided to keep a running statement of purpose that is my foundation for doing the work that I seek to do.  And this is what it looks like today.  

There is a great need for Functional Medicine.

According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, chronic disease is quickly becoming a large share of the total spending for both government and individuals.  I see firsthand through exposure to different communities that there needs to be a new approach in both the prevention and the management of chronic disease.  The current focus on end-point treatment and symptomatic relief is not working as proven by the rise in health costs over the years.  I believe that the foundation of changing this paradigm will come from a solid understanding of functional medicine and integrative nutrition.  We need to spend more time respecting bioindividualty and look for the root cause of the patient’s chronic health issues allowing for better long-term management and better quality of life.

As Buddha said "If you light a lamp for someone else it will also brighten your path."  My purpose is to light the lamps of others. I light lamps by educating and mentoring clients through my wellness company, Shine Total Health and Wellness.  I see a white spot in the health field where patients do not fully understand how integrated their lifestyle and health is, even going beyond nutrition.  This gets worsened by a one size fits all approach to treatment.  My goal is to fill in the white spot.

 I aim to achieve this goal by growing the foundation of my company through continued education and gained competency to better help clients with more complex health concerns get to the true underlying causes of their chronic health issues in order to find the solution that will work for them, as an individual.  Additionally this will allow me to be best prepared to efficiently educate a wider population of people on the prevention of illnesses.  Functional medicine is preventative medicine. 

 

I started a Wellness Blog for Shine over here, as well as a Facebook page.  Feel free to follow and like these pages!  I will be launching my formal website in June/July of this year.

I am working hard on my goals and a large part of my success t is applying my practice to myself.  I have taken myself on as my first client, which is actually quite exciting.  I am removing my preconceived notions and seeing where I can take this.



Which brings me to Spring Cleaning!  Since it is officially spring, I decided to do some cleaning of my own mainly inside my head and inside my body.

I am lucky in that my house is actually fairly clean year round thanks to a tad bit of OCD and living alone. My big internal spring clean item will be my floors - all the hardwood and the carpets in the bedrooms and living room. Thanks to Otis the potty pug never really being trained well, I have had some accidents to deal with and am working with him on fixing that habit.  Slowly but surely it will be done.

The major overhaul is with my diet.  Ironman training is kicking into full swing and with that comes the return of my Triathlon Tapeworm Jose.  I decided to give whole real foods a try instead of fake sports nutrition and wrote a post on my goals over at The IronSeashell, my training specific blog.

I also have outsourced my grocery shopping and now even my food prep!  Sounds lazy but lets look at my life.  I work full time 40-50+ hours a week, plus Ironman training 10-16 hours a week, plus schooling 5-10 hours a week plus home time and travel for work and splitting my time between FL and MI.  I have very little time for much else without coming at a great personal stress. I get my lunches and dinners made for me and delivered courtesy of Thrive Foods Direct - 100% organic, gluten-free and vegan, and I supplement with fruit and veg from Door to Door Organics or even Amazon for anything esoteric like Nutritional Yeast or the Vitamin Shoppe for my supplements/vitamins. I rarely need to go to the store now and honestly I am spending LESS money outsourcing than if I was to go shopping and meal prep myself.

I was spending upwards of 5-8 hours a weekend in food prep/shopping and while it was nice when I could afford the time, I honestly just am at my limit.

 Like I say in my Sports "Nutrition" post - crap in is crap out in performance, mental acuity and overall wellness.  I have felt huge differences in my mental clarity and motivation as I eat different things.  My thinking is sharper and my overall happiness is better when I consume good clean foods all day long.  I am excited to see how I can perform without the last crutch of sports nutrition.


Shine on!

Investing in myself.

Over the past few months I have been traveling back and forth between FL and MI as per my new normal life. 

 

 

 

With the worst winter to hit Metro-Detroit in about 35 years upon us, I have welcomed the break every few weeks as it gives me the chance to recharge my batteries and soak up the sunshine and inhale the sea salt infused air.

 

 

With that much travel, I have spent a lot of reflection time on myself and my health goals.  Lots of air time and sunshine-fuelled happy tends to lead to self reflection and realization I guess! 

 

I am an eternal student of life, always reading up on the different parts of overall health and wellness. I have been feeling a pull to learn more and in a more holistic sense, no longer in parts.  I have been called into a new direction as it pertains to how I look at all that I put my body through be it food, exercise,  stress, self care, or sleep. 

Through the past few years I have picked up bits and pieces of ideas from the academic and clinical worlds on so many health topics that it had left me hungry for  much more.

I am an engineer through and through, and by taking a Functional Nutrition lecture series through the Holistic Nutrition Lab in Portland, OR, I have learned about our body's physiological processes as they were put in focus under a lens of science that makes So. Much. Sense.  Combined with my health coaching training program a solid foundation is being formed. 

 

Ultimately, I do see a need in our health system to provide a safe place for clients to understand lifestyle choices and the resulting impacts on their health in ways they may not even realize are connected and in ways that doctors just do not have the time to outline and explain to their patients.

 

Even more directly and immediately, I see a need for myself.   Ever since I have been learning about the physiology of our bodies, my lifestyle changes have taken a deeper and more meaningful root.  To hear "eat this not that", or "do this exercise not that" is one thing; To see clearly how those actions impact my body on cellular level makes it more real for me than just generic health advice. 

 

I have an underlying eating disorder that has plagued me for much of my life.  For the first time I am feeling my disordered eating habits breaking up and with that clarity, I am inherently being drawn to a more stable and normal food relationship.  The impacts of our lifestyle choices on our bodies are outstanding!   

 

After much research and careful consideration, I have decided to gain an even better understanding of the human body, the human mind,  and the all too often ignored connection between.  I am returning to school!

I am working on some prerequisites and foundational certifications (CPT, CHHC), and will be working on a Master's→ Ph.D program over the next few years as a passion project of sorts - as an investment in my health and my ability to help others make sense of theirs.

 

I found out last week that I have been accepted into a Doctorate of Science program and a Masters of Science in Holistic Nutrition - this is my Plan B.   My Plan A is the Master of Science program in Nutrition and Functional Medicine with the progression in to a Ph.D in Natural Medicine following.  I should find out by the end of April, early May if I am accepted!

 

While this will be my 2nd Master's degree (and obviously my first and only Ph.D. *wink*), this will be the first degree that I go into for pure desire of learning and educating - not for a job requirement/advancement purpose.

I am so excited to grow this part of my life, one which has been calling to me over the past few years!