My Story – Simply You | Holistic Nutrition

Hello! Welcome to Simply You Holistic Nutrition.
I’m Stevie, your Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor.

Here is my story:
I started on this journey of functional nutrition about 10 yrs ago, after years of Medical Doctors misdiagnosing me since I was a newborn. As a baby I suffered with Grand mal seizures and Asthma. At around 10 yrs old the seizures just stopped. I was undergoing testing for these to find out why they started and then stopped, for most of my life. With no solid answers, my mom was told to let me live a normal life.

I grew up with a wonderful single mom and many siblings on farms with horses and all the fun farm animals. We did not have much, but we always had food on the table and roof over our heads. My mom taught me how to grow my own foods and herbs. I was a highly active child who loved to be outside from sunrise to sunset.

Around 10 years old my seizures stopped but my asthma stayed with me. It slowly faded away too. In my teen years I was constantly sick. I had major fatigue, my stomach always hurt, I was missing endless amounts of school, I couldn’t get out of bed no matter what my mother tried.

I never got any better, my family Doctor, at the time ran many tests, sent me to many specialists, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They checked everything. My hormones and menstrual cycle were very bad. They said my chance of having children when I was old enough would likely not be possible. A few months later, after more testing, the conclusion was that I have Lupus.

I had my first child when I was 18 yrs old . I revisited the specialist as I was quite ill again. During this time frame I was always tired, sore, and my body would just stop working. I was never put on medications to control the diseases. The specialist this time, gave me the great news! I did not have lupus! But I did have a rare autoimmune disease that was undiagnosable at the time. Again, I was told to live life as well as I could. I continued to see the specialist occasionally, trying to figure this out. I was told stop eating gluten & dairy. Knowing there was no way I could afford to live on a gluten free diet, I quit dairy and carried on.

During my seconded pregnancy (7 yrs later) I started to get worse again, my family physician said to quit gluten. So I did and low and behold, I started feeling better! As the days week and months went on, they diagnosed me with Celiac disease. We knew now that this was the cause to many of my issues. But I still was suffering with pain throughout my whole body, I would miss work and lost many wonderful career opportunities. I was at the point of giving up, my depression was at its worst. I was missing my kids growing up.

I went back to my specialist, and had more testing done and I was then diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. A year later I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. During all this I was determined to find a way to live life without pain. I researched as much about food and nutrition as one could without an education. I discovered many different foods and herbs that brought my inflammation down. Once I had been diagnosed, I was able then to find exactly what I needed to heal myself through foods and herbal supplements. I refused medications because anytime I tried them I only got sicker to the point I was missing watching my babies grow, all I ever wanted was to be a mother and wife.

During all this time I gained weight up 220 lbs. Doctors would say “you need to lose weight” I laughed because they used tell me I needed to gain weight! As a young adult I was only 99.5 lbs, When I gave birth to my first born, I was 105lbs. I never went over 115 lbs until my second child, then my weight skyrocketed. I jumped from 195 lbs to 220! That’s when I knew I had to find way to be healthier for myself and my children there was no way I was going to lose my life at such a young age to being overweight and with a multitude of health problems.

At the age of 34, I was finally diagnosed with my 3 Autoimmune diseases.( Celiac disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia) At this point I took my health in to my own hands. I was never going to listen to another DR say you are a conundrum, we don’t know what to do with you, will take your blood every 6 months to keep checking your levels. I was so tired. I lost faith in the medical system. I couldn’t hear another Dr say I don’t know? what do you think? I would be screaming inside my head, what do I think? Hello… you’re the one with the PHD. I’m just a mom and wife.

Once I took matters into my own hands, I found my passion with food, nutrition and herbs. I then searched for all the courses and educators to find the one that truly spoke to what I wanted to do. How could I help others like I helped myself?

At the age of 35, during the global pandemic, I decided to go back to school and study functional nutrition medicine. Graduating in January 2023 from the Functional Nutritional Alliance as a Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor.

After all these years, if they would have focused on what I put into my body, we would have found a solution. Instead, I found the solutions on my own. A year later, at my yearly follow up My specialist says to me, I do not know what you’re doing or how you have done this but you are at a state of health that is manageable. I told him what I have been doing. His response was “I’m so thankful you have educated yourself where I am not educated and found the solutions, at this point let’s call it remission” he then shook my hand and said I hope I don’t see you before I retire. I am now a patient he only needs to see if I ever feel I cannot manage my symptoms and diseases alone again.

My mission is to help heal others like me. Finding those who are lost and ready to not only take their health to the next level, but to learn how to maintain and stay on track with the proper tools and dedication.

My vision is to teach my community & clients how to eat well and be your true self, through food nutrition and overall well-being.

My Goals are to help others heal their bodies from the inside out with a balance lifestyle.

I hope you will join me on this amazing journey of healing and becoming who you were truly meant to be.