Shannon Plummer - Food Medicine and Miracles

BE AT CAUSE. NOT AT EFFECT.

There's a lot out of our control. There always has been. Today, it's more true and more apparent than ever.

Where are your control and power? Within you.

You have a say over how you care for yourself, how you talk to yourself, how you support yourself. Even in the worst of times, your power is here.

I work with women's health. To me, the subject is a much bigger topic than we think it is. It's so important because how you feel in your body and mind will have a direct effect on every other area of your life.

The lab work allows me to show my clients where they are. I show them how they're 'hugging' the exhaustive phase of stress, or running on all cylinders in the acute phase of stress....and how this is effecting they're hormones and every other aspect of their body, mind, and life.

My clients tend to think it's not so bad. It's good to see it right there in black and white. Lab work also confirms for me how to work with them. Every person is different in terms of what they need to recover their health.

Our culture thrives on "Just Do It" and overwork is valued.

Our body and mind will disagree. Body's aren't machines. Our energy and vital reserves are precious. A precious gift we are given that requires our tender loving care.

I hear myself saying to myself and to my clients..."Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Let's protect our vital energy. We're going to need it over the next decade and beyond.

Life is forever changed.

BE AT CAUSE. NOT AT EFFECT.

As you go about your day today, choose wisely how you treat yourself, what you choose to put in your mouth, whether you put your sneakers on, how you talk to yourself.

This is where your power is.

With love
Shannon

RESCUE YOURSELF.

I've felt the need lately to rescue myself. I can feel it in myself and I see in the eyes of my clients.

I have the best clients; they are moms, activists, writers, lawyers, caregivers, artists, business owners, and soul searching deeply committed women.

They care about the world and what is happening.

To do more in the world, RESCUE YOURSELF first. In other words, "put your own oxygen mask on first."

This isn't selfish. It's wisdom.

I encourage and teach this in the work that I do with my clients. The lab work, the food work, the emotional, and perspective work are all there to help my clients rescue themselves.

Last night after a full day of deeply satisfying work with my clients, I thought, I need to rescue myself.

I need to show up more for these women that are changing the world. They need me to be there more for them.

These are not ordinary times.

Our physical body is so intricately connected to our wanting to show up in the world. When we feel tired, bloated, anxious, heavy, and depressed, we're less likely to bring all of who we are...at least it's this way for me.

When I feel better in my body and mind, I do better.

This is what I've built my practice and business around. I thought, "If this is true for me, it must be true for other women too."

So last night...

-I recommitted myself to optimal nutrition and to removing foods that I know aren't serving me, but somehow they've made their way back in.

-I ordered my absolute favorite bio-detoxification kit and will begin it when it arrives.
-I marked on my calendar the day of the month I will test my hormones and stress response to see how best to support myself.

-I will continue my work with Daniel Piatek, Corin Würder Hinderegger, Sabin Bailey and Patty O'Sullivan to help me to keep growing, learning, and stretching myself to be more than maybe I think that I can be.

-I'll keep hugging my daughter and my dog and hug them tighter.

-I'll keep walking, tapping, and breathing deeply.

RESCUE YOURSELF.

We need you.

With love
Shannon

VALIDATION & CLARITY...and functional lab work

The reason I use functional lab work when working with my clients is for validation & clarity...

VALIDATION & CLARITY...to serve them the best I can as a practitioner

VALIDATION & CLARITY....for them

It's good to be able to see in black and white, the story behind their weight, their fatigue, their hot flashes, their diabetes, their HBP, etc.

I reviewed 4 sets of labs yesterday for this upcoming week of seeing clients.

The story I saw behind the numbers was:

Estrogen dominance
Insulin resistance
Inflammation
Toxic load
Emotional stress
Hormones in the gutter

It's fascinating, revealing, and exciting to me to be able to help them to understand the "why" behind their symptoms.

The answers lie not just within the supplements I may recommend, but in their life.

MOSTLY in their life...

Questions I ask:

"What is your work like?"

"What are you worried about?"

"How do manage the stress in your life?"

"What do you do for enjoyment?"

"How do you talk to yourself?"

It's here (in their life) that the root of the problem exists. When we address the pieces in their life, how they care for themselves, reprioritize their wellbeing...the body can heal.

Deeply heal.

For example, something like DIM or Calcium D-Glucarate will help estrogen dominance tremendously, BUT...why is estrogen dominant in the first place?

THIS is the real question.

The answer will be found in what she's eating, emotional and physical stress, how she's sleeping, how she's moving her body (or not), how healthy her gut and liver are.

A body doesn't become estrogen dominant for no reason.

Functional lab work tells your body story and will reveal the underlying pieces that have lead to the reasons you feel the way you do. Missing this foundational piece (the root cause) will lead you nowhere.

VALIDATION & CLARITY...and functional lab work.

With love
Shannon

WHAT I LEARNED IN EATING DISORDER CLINICS

Occasionally, my clients will get angry with me because they, at some level, feel that I'm taking their food (comfort, friend, the distraction of choice) away from them.

I understand this anger.

I felt it in the 4 eating disorder clinics that I went to in my teens and twenties. I felt incredible rage when the nurses tried to tell me what to eat.

In one clinic, the privilege to go outside had to be earned. If I ate my breakfast, I would be allowed to go outside and breathe fresh air. How humiliating and enraging this was for me.

When admitted to this clinic, I was eating 'maybe' an apple a week. Now, I was expected to eat bacon, eggs, and hash browns in one meal and all the other meals too.

I couldn't. More accurately...I wouldn't.

I refused.

"I'm stronger than you," I would say to myself. I was too much of a people pleaser to say it to their face.

What I didn't realize, or even really care about at the time, was that my "strength," my refusal to relinquish this power that I thought I had was slowly killing me.

120 lbs to 50 lbs in a year.

It was more important to me to maintain my control than to relinquish it.

This was the essence of anorexia for me. It really had very little to do with food, it had to do with my inability to properly handle my emotions, and the incredible, deep fear I had of not being able to handle my life or myself on my own.

Safety.

In my mind, if I stayed in my self-created prison, I would never have to open the pandora's box of emotions that brewed within.

I'd keep them locked up. "I'd show them."

Nearly 32 years later, I work with women to help them restore their bodies and minds. Many have their own version of this imprisonment.

Their stories look very different from mine, but the thread that runs through their story is very similar to mine.

They often feel disempowered in their body, they want to understand their body and know what to do to feel better, they want to feel a friendship and a connection to their body, they want out of this imprisonment.

Many women have not known WHAT to do and have unknowingly been making choices that are not congruent with their bodies. This leads them to think that there's something wrong with them...that they have an innate flaw.

It isn't true. You are not flawed. You and your body are miraculous. Truly.

You've just learned the wrong health information and the emotional pieces within yourself need your time and attention. From here, giving your body the time and the grace to heal is important. How long this takes will be dependant on your starting point.

Much of my training was 'on the job' training. 32 years ago, at 50 lbs, I didn't know that I was being taught.

I was being taught so I could then teach women how to create a strong, comfortable, and resilient relationship with their bodies where fear and disillusionment do not exist.

I LEARNED THIS long ago IN EATING DISORDER CLINICS.

With love
Shannon

ARE YOUR LIFE RAFTS IN PLACE?
Life is a lot right now for so many people. Me, my clients, and my family are up to our ears in all the life stuff happening.

Yesterday, I asked many of my clients...

ARE YOUR LIFE RAFTS IN PLACE?

We've got to have these in our days. It's incredibly important to sure up your life rafts.

What do I mean?

LIFE RAFT #1 - food
If you've been a client of mine, you know that using food as a stress management tool is so important. Why?

*It can increase our energy, wellbeing, stabilize blood sugar, reduce anxiety, calm and ground us if we use it wisely.

*It can also do the complete opposite (increase inflammation, blood sugar destabilization, toxic load, etc) if we use it to drown our feelings or a way to numb out and avoid.

🌻

LIFE RAFT #2 - movement
Schedule some type of movement into your day. Walking is such a perfect exercise. If you can walk with a dog or a friend...even better. Why?

*The movement will help to settle your mind, balance blood sugar, and help your body to feel stronger. You know that you feel better when you use your body, so be sure to put this life raft into your day to support you.

The attached photos are of my walk on Tuesday morning at the Pisces Full moon.

🌸

LIFE RAFT #3 - rest
Get to bed by 9:30 pm or 10:00 pm. Why?

*This time frameworks in concert with your circadian rhythm. You get high quality, restorative rest in the hours of sleep you get before midnight.

🌷

LIFERAFT #4 - human connection
In this time, it's so important to reach out to friends and family to feel supported and loved. Why?

*There's a reason why isolation is used as a form of torture. Human beings need other human beings to thrive. It's biological, built into our DNA.

I encourage you to very consciously place these life rafts into your days. By doing so, you're creating safety and wellbeing for yourself and your body. You'll make better choices, feel calmer, more grounded, and stable.

🌺

HERE ARE MY LIFE RAFTS:

-Morning meditation - 5:00 am

-Morning walk with my dog and/or pilates - 7:00 am

-High purine protein for my first meal (I'm a fast oxidizer, so VERY important) with a good amount of greens sauteed in avocado oil. This will provide emotional and physical stability to fully show up for myself, my daughter, and my clients - 12:00 pm

-Lay down on the ground (20 minutes) between my afternoon clients. The sun, earth, and rest help me to regain my energy and focus. - 3:00/4:00 pm

-To bed by 10:00 pm. Super important for me to feel rested the next day.

-Hugging Sage throughout my day because I love her.

I would love to hear your life rafts. If you don't have any, think about what you can place in your days to support your body, mind, and life.

With love
Shannon

I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING.

I've had gastric bypass surgery
I've had my gall bladder removed
I've done Jenny Craig and Nutri System
I've taken Metformin, Methotrexate, etc...

WHAT'S MISSING HERE?

My question back to my client is...

Why did you seek this treatment/intervention out in the first place?

The root cause reason for all of these things was never addressed.

Gastric bypass does nothing for the reason a person overeats in the first place.
UNDERSTANDING THIS IS WHERE HEALING IS.

Gall bladder removal does nothing for the reason the gall bladder is not functioning well.
UNDERSTANDING THIS IS WHERE THE HEALING IS.

Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem do nothing to address the emotional components of why overeating is happening.
UNDERSTANDING THIS IS WHERE THE HEALING IS.

These pharmaceutical drugs do nothing for the reason why inflammation and insulin resistance are happening.
UNDERSTANDING THIS IS WHERE THE HEALING IS.

The body seeks to be understood. Symptoms are the only way our body can get our attention.

I encourage you to dive in, see what your body has to say. In all cases, the body wants to be listened to, nourished, restored. It wants you to be its advocate and learn what it needs to heal.

Food. Medicine. Miracles.

With love
Shannon

CREATING RESILIENCE

We aren't going to change the stressful events in our lives immediately; the social injustice, COVID, relationship stress, financial stress, all the things...

The questions are;
"How do we create resilience for ourselves in the face of it?"
"How do we help ourselves to be like a palm tree that can bend and not break?"

Knowing what both your physical and emotional body need is key. This is health.

Your health isn't a math equation where we measure this and measure that to determine how healthy we are. Health is a feeling that we're in balance, that we're doing the things that support our physical and emotional selves.

What does this mean?

-We're eating food that pushes us into balance, not way from it. Food is one of your best stress management tools. Use it wisely.

-Restore function where needed. This is the best part of a functional approach to health. Functional lab work can identify specific areas in your body that need support.

-We're not running away from our emotional selves...our fears, worry, and sadness...we're embracing them as our guide, not putting a lid on them or pretending they're not there.

Creating resilience in our body and mind will help you to live within your life in an empowered way. The key is not to run away from your health but to meet it, step into it, embody it, let it be.

We're experiencing an unprecedented amount of stress in our lives right now. It keeps coming...yes?

CREATE RESILIENCE within your body and mind. This is time and energy that cannot be taken from you.

You may not be able to change the situations and circumstances 'out there' right away, but you can change what you do to support yourself within it.

With love
Shannon

YOU'RE NOT BROKEN.

My mission statement as a functional medicine practitioner of body and soul is:

"I guide women to regain their health after years of struggle, discouragement, and confusion about why their body acts up and feels the way that it does. I do this in a natural and holistic way to create deep, lasting solutions and transformation for a healthful body and a beautiful, enriching life."

I created this mission statement because YOU'RE NOT BROKEN.

We're not fixing your body and soul, we're identifying and unwinding patterns that have become stuck, we're pinpointing the places where your physical body needs support.

-functional lab work
-customized nutritional support
-emotional support to help you to step into your full and vibrant self

My practice was born and created by being the woman that I speak of in my mission statement. I was lost and confused as to why my body didn't work like everyone else's body. Why I had such disdain for it, why I couldn't find a way to love myself, let alone step into my power and my life.

For some of us, this is our story.

The healing for us won't be found in traditional medicine. There is no solution there. Traditional medicine cannot comprehend the depth of what we're aching for.

We don't want a heavy-duty medication that masks and numbs our body and soul. We want to understand why, we want healing and alchemy and purity to feel strong and well in our body, our mind, and our soul.

I hear you, and I'm right there with you. You're not alone, and...

YOU'RE NOT BROKEN.

With love
Shannon

our PHYSICAL BODY and our SPIRITUAL PATH...

If you feel that you're living or want to live a spiritual life, part of claiming this life and path is to claim your space within your body and becoming a woman that trusts herself.

Do you trust yourself when alone with yourself? This is so important.

One of the biggest spiritual lessons is to learn how to live in our body, work in tandem with it, and to trust ourselves.

How do we do this? Partly, we do it by being very cognizant of what we put in our body, how we move it, stretch it, be present with it, and befriend it.

A strong physical body will enhance a strong spiritual path. This does not mean a 'perfect' body. It means awareness and attention to our body.

You may be confused as to what to do. You hear all the shoulds, all the fear, all of the information.

My work makes it very clear.

-What do I eat to help support myself? We got this with metabolic typing.

-What's happening within my body? I don't feel quite right. We got this with functional lab work.

-How can I best support myself in my life? We got this with specific lifestyle practices that support your body and mind and grow your trust...in yourself.

My programs are not general. They are specific. Specific to you and your body.

Once we have this information, then it's a matter of doing, of claiming your space in your body as your vehicle in this life, of showing up for yourself and trusting yourself in the moments of choice.

My practice of 'health' is encompassing, it's at the root, it's for those that want to win their body back, claim their space in this life with their body fully present.

Because...

If you feel that you're living or want to live a spiritual life, part of claiming this life and path is to claim your space within your body and becoming a woman that trusts herself.

With love
Shannon