If you’ve been sitting on my website for a few weeks, partially convinced you should book a call but not totally sure what you’d even be signing up for — this one’s for you.
I get it. “Nutrition consult” can mean a lot of different things depending on who you talk to, and if your only reference point is a rushed conversation with a doctor who handed you a pamphlet, it’s fair to wonder what makes this any different. So let me walk you through exactly what happens when we get on that first call together, no mystery involved.
It’s a menu, not a mandate
The first thing I do is share what I think of as the “star points” of the program — the different areas we can work on together. Nutrition and macros. Lab testing. Supplements. Exercise. Hormones and adrenal health. Gut health and digestion.
Here’s the part that surprises people: you don’t have to do all of it. I’m not handing you a rigid protocol where every box gets checked whether you need it or not. Some clients come to me knowing exactly what they want to focus on — “just help me with my energy” or “I need to understand my labs.” Others have no idea where to start, and that’s fine too. Either way, the very first thing I ask is simple: out of everything on that list, what matters most to you right now? We build from there.
Why I ask you to journal your food (and why it’s more interesting than it sounds)
One of the first things I’ll typically ask you to do is start a food journal — nothing complicated, just logging what you eat using an app where you can scan a barcode, snap a photo, or type it in manually.
I’ll be honest with you: even after thirty years in this field, I still find it eye-opening every time a client’s food journal comes in. Not because I’m judging what’s on the page — because patterns show up in black and white that are almost impossible to see just by living your own life day to day. It’s often the fastest way for both of us to understand what’s actually going on, versus what we assume is going on.
Your labs are going to look different than what your doctor orders
This is usually the part that gets people the most excited, honestly. A routine annual physical is designed to catch a fairly narrow set of problems — and it’s usually missing the boat on the nutritional side of things entirely.
The panel I run digs into your metabolism and blood sugar regulation, your thyroid, your hormones, your vitamin and mineral status, your essential fatty acids, and markers connected to heart disease risk. Depending on what’s going on for you, we may also add a stool test to look at gut health. The goal isn’t to find something scary — it’s to actually see what your body has to work with, instead of guessing.
The symptom checklist isn’t a diagnosis — it’s a map
Early on, I’ll walk you through some symptom checklists — things like adrenal fatigue symptoms or thyroid symptoms — and read through them with you out loud. I want to be really clear about what this is and isn’t: checking a bunch of boxes on an adrenal symptom list doesn’t mean you have “adrenal anything” going on. It’s just a symptom list. It helps me understand your whole picture and helps guide which labs and which conversations we prioritize. Nothing more, nothing less.
A little homework, clearly prioritized
You will not leave your first session with a twenty-item to-do list and a vague sense of panic. My style is to give you a short, clearly ordered list of what to do first, second, and third — usually something like: get your blood work done, start tracking your weight and body composition on an at-home scale, and watch a couple of short videos on food journaling. That’s it for now. Everything else waits until we actually have data to work from.
If blood work is on your list, I’ll also walk you through the logistics so there are no surprises at the lab — what to fast for, for how long, and what you can still have (plain water and black coffee are usually fine).
What you walk away with
By the end of that first call, you’ll have a clear sense of what we’re prioritizing, what your next few steps actually are, and — just as important — an honest look at the cost and logistics side of things, because I think that conversation should never feel awkward or hidden. You should always know what you’re paying for and why.
This isn’t about handing you a meal plan and sending you on your way. It’s the start of us actually figuring out, with real data and a real conversation, what your body needs — not what a generic plan assumes it needs.
If you’ve been on the fence, consider this your nudge. Book a session, and let’s find out what’s actually going on.
