Functionally Speaking

Why is it that the “healthiest” looking women in the room are often the ones silently missing their periods? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we unpack one of the most overlooked clinical patterns we see in practice: hypothalamic amenorrhea in lean, active, high-achieving women. We talk about why this gets missed in conventional care, how birth control becomes a band-aid inste...

Are we reaching for bottles before we’ve truly addressed the basics? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we have a very honest conversation about the supplements we see most overused, overhyped, and misunderstood in practice. We’re not anti-supplement—far from it. But we are pro-context, pro-foundations, and pro-clinical reasoning. We talk about where things like DIM, oregano oil...

Is it wellness or is it just disordered behavior in disguise? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re naming what’s really going on behind the clean eating trends, detox culture, step-count obsession, and hypertracking disguised as health. From “I need to track to eat enough” to “I can’t skip a workout,” we’re breaking down the disordered behaviors that are getting rebranded as...

How did postpartum become a performance sport? Somewhere along the way, we stopped honoring the transformation of motherhood and started racing to “get back” to a body, a life, and a version of ourselves that no longer exists. This week, we’re unpacking all of it—from toxic bounce back culture to body image in preconception care, influencer pressures, postpartum mental health, and how practitioner...

Is it just us, or does it feel like everyone online is suddenly a weight loss expert? Between the nonstop social media promotions for GLP-1s and influencers flaunting their “bounce back” bodies postpartum, the noise can get overwhelming—and dangerously misleading. In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we revisit our conversation on GLP-1s and peptide therapy, but this time through...

Is chat support helping your business or quietly burning you out? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re unpacking the pros and cons of offering chat support to clients—from how we’ve structured it in our own practices to the unexpected mindset shifts it required. We talk about what works (and what definitely didn’t), how to set boundaries and still offer high-touch care, and...

Tired of wondering where to start—or how to actually move a client forward—when it comes to protocol design? If you’ve ever second-guessed your plans, felt overwhelmed by lab results, or struggled to figure out how to balance clinical insight with client capacity, this episode is for you. In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we break down what protocol design really looks like ins...

Are parasites really the root of all your symptoms or just another fear-based fad? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re diving into the popular (and often problematic) phrase: “If you have a pulse, you have a parasite.” We unpack the rise of parasite cleanses in the functional health world, challenge the reflexive use of antimicrobials, and explore why a more nuanced, root-c...

What’s the best business model for a health and wellness practice? Should you launch a membership, stick with 1:1s, or start teaching masterclasses? If you’ve been feeling pressure to scale a certain way—but you’re not sure what actually works for you or your clients—this episode is for you. Today, we’re unpacking the real-world pros and cons of different business models we've tried—and why t...

Do you ever wonder what tools are actually worth investing in for your health and wellness business? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re sharing the exact tools that have transformed how we run our practice—from client communication and symptom tracking to batching content and finding community support. These are the platforms and systems we rely on every single day to work...

Have you ever been told you're in perimenopause but something about that felt off? Or maybe you’re a clinician who's had clients walk in with an “official” diagnosis, zero labs, and a whole lot of confusion. In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we unpack the growing wave of perimenopause talk—from the genuine support women deserve to the frustrating ways it’s being misdi...

Are you building your wellness business on shaky ground without even realizing it? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re pulling back the curtain on all the things we’ve done wrong in business so you don’t have to. We’re talking about red-flag clients, pricing mistakes, boundary breakdowns, tech headaches, and how easy it is to end up resentful when you make exceptions "...

Have your clients (or even you) ever used exercise as therapy only to end up more depleted than energized? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re breaking down how to help clients (and ourselves) find the right dose of exercise for their current season of life. From “go hard or go home” narratives to sneaky stressors like high-demand jobs, toddler wake-ups, or perfectionist te...

Are your clients hitting the gym, eating “clean,” and still feeling exhausted, anxious, and bloated? We see it all the time—women who are praised for their discipline but are actually deeply undernourished. And sometimes? Clinicians miss the signs too. In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re talking about one of the most common but overlooked issues in functional and convention...

Ever left a doctor’s office feeling dismissed, confused, or worse—unseen?  In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re pulling back the curtain on the red flags we see in both conventional and functional medicine. From providers who brush off symptoms to those who rely too heavily on expensive testing and supplement stacks, we talk through the patterns we’ve seen—and the ones we wa...

Is wearing a weighted vest actually helping or is it just another wellness trend preying on women in perimenopause? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re unpacking the very hot topic of weighted vests and why they’re suddenly everywhere. We break down where this trend came from, what the research doesn’t say, and why social media is once again skipping over the nuance in favo...

Are postpartum workouts empowering or just another pressure on moms to “bounce back”? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re diving deep into postpartum fitness culture—and calling out the unrealistic, unhelpful, and often harmful messaging that’s flooding social media. From snapback culture to sleep deprivation, mineral depletion, and the mental load of motherhood, we explore...

Is cold plunging really helping your health or just pushing your already stressed system over the edge? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we unpack the cold, hard truth about cold plunges. From hormonal differences to nervous system baselines, we dive into why women respond differently to extreme stressors and what that means for popular wellness trends like cold therapy. Plus,...

Is it more transparent—or more strategic—to share your prices publicly? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re having an honest, nuanced conversation about pricing in private practice. Do you list your rates on your site? Do you keep them off until a discovery call? We’ve tried it both ways, and in this episode, we unpack the mindset, messaging, and business realities behind e...

Are fertility monitors giving women real answers or just more reasons to stress? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re breaking down the rise of at-home hormone trackers like Mira and Inito, and sharing how we really feel about them. We talk about the promise of data, the pressure to “get it right,” and the fine line between feeling empowered and feeling overwhelmed. We also...

Are you running too many labs and missing what really matters? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re unpacking a hot topic in functional medicine: testing fatigue. We’re both pro-labs and pro-thinking, and this conversation is all about striking that balance. We share the most common mistakes we see with overtesting, how we approach lab work in our own practices, and why clin...

Are you asking your clients the questions that actually matter? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re digging into five (plus one!) things we always ask our clients—and think you should too. These aren’t the typical food and supplement questions. We’re talking about what’s really going on behind the scenes. This episode isn’t just for practitioners—it’s also for anyone who wa...

Are fitness trackers helping your health or quietly harming it? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re getting real about wearables: who they’re actually helping, when they’re causing more stress than support, and what to consider before recommending them to a client (or using one yourself). We share our own experiences with devices like the Oura ring and Garmin, unpack the pr...

Why are so many women jumping straight to IVF without getting real answers first? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we’re having a real (and probably long overdue) conversation about fertility, IVF, and the frustrating lack of root cause care in the conventional system. We’re not anti-IVF but we are pro-informed choice, and that starts with asking better questions and refusing...

Is cycle syncing helping women connect with their bodies or just giving them one more thing to stress about? In this episode of the Functionally Speaking podcast, we unpack the world of cycle syncing and seed cycling and why we’re not buying the hype. We break down what it actually is, why it’s resurfacing, and how it's often just another attempt to micromanage women's bodies in the name...