It’s been a real journey…

About 10 months ago now, I made a big decision.
I was fed up with chronic health issues that wouldn’t resolve despite my best efforts. I was tired, bloated, anxious, not digesting anything, itchy with chronic eczema and rashes, unmotivated, and downright feeling like shit. (Side note: if you haven’t read it yet, read my first post titled Let’s Get Real: My Personal Health Journey first. If you have, continue on!)

Over the 3 years leading up to my big decision, I saw a lot of natural health practitioners. I saw naturopaths, a homeopath, a Chinese medicine practitioner, more experienced Holistic Nutritionists, an osteopath, and more… and I complied to their programs whole-heartedly for long periods of time.
Don’t get me wrong, they were all extremely competent and highly skilled and I am certain they have helped many others, but I was a different case. Despite their best efforts, and mine, my issues remained, and I grew more and more frustrated and desperate.

Full disclosure: being a wellness professional, I was extra frustrated that I wasn’t able to heal MYSELF knowing all that I know about health, diet and lifestyle practices. Because I was really doing all the right things but getting worse and worse!

Flash forward to finding out about Functional Medicine and Dr. Navaz Habib, Functional Medicine Practitioner. I had heard great things. But I still put it off, mostly because it was a big financial investment for me at age 29.

But I finally hit a point where the money didn’t even matter anymore.

My health was going downhill and I needed to do something big. So I went for it. I let go of my money worries and my egoic desire to heal MYSELF, and went ALL IN.

And here I am writing this now, 10 months later.

To put it lightly, the results I got from the appropriate diagnostic laboratory testing were MIND BLOWING. My body was a mess on the inside, but FINALLY my symptoms were EXPLAINED BY SCIENCE and we had REAL ROOT CAUSES. (I capitalize all these words because I am ridiculously grateful and passionate about this, haha)

For 8 months I diligently followed my custom-tailored Functional Medicine programs to address the true root causes of what was going on with me.

And I can tell you, in all honestly, that 8 months later, I actually felt like myself again.
Or actually, better than what I would have considered ‘myself’.

Here’s a short video interview of where I’m at now to really explain it:

“Sometimes you meet amazing patients that just need a bit of support to determine the actual cause of their issues. These are patients that are living a healthy lifestyle but have some blind spots that are affecting them negatively.
Laura is such a patient. She lives a very healthy, organic lifestyle and is such a strong person. She simply needed a different set of eyes and a novel but holistic approach to her health. We were able to have a drastic and positive impact on Laura’s health that she wanted to share her story with me and everyone who would listen.
Watch this amazing video for more specifics and Laura’s words about what we do differently at Living Proof and how we can help you get to the source of your health problems.”
–Dr. Navaz Habib, Functional Medicine Practitioner

Sure, there’s always more work to be done (I’m sure not done yet!) and great health is always an ongoing journey. But boyyyy oh boyyyy have I seen such big, amazing changes.

If you’re suffering from chronic health issues that won’t resolve, or even if your journey with health issues is just beginning, or even if a doctor told you that you’re stuck with a health issue for life, I URGE YOU to seek out Functional Medicine.

You just can’t put a price on quality of life.

July 2018

And now–
Functional Medicine has been so transformational to me that I’ve enrolled to become a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach (FMCHC), program starting Sept. 1, 2018.

I’m not being melodramatic when I say my health was rough.
For about 2.5 years, my chest, arms, wrists, hands, eyelids and lips were covered in itchy red rashes. This is merely the VISIBLE, outward manifestation of the numerous issues that were going on inside; things I could document with photos. The rashes corresponded with intense fatigue, bloating, yeast infections, inability to digest anything, low motivation and more.
Not everyone shows health issues through their skin, but I do and my body was clearly screaming for help.
I took photos of some of it because I knew that, one day when I was healthy again, I’d want to look back on these photos with mega gratitude.

I’m there now.

The photos below are raw and personal and not ones I ever thought I would have shared publicly but I truly believe they will help at least one person who is struggling with mysterious health issues that can be healed through Functional Medicine.
Viewing these photos to upload them here brought back the pain and frustration I remember from that time (which wasn’t that long ago), trying everything I could to heal with no relief.
Yet I also have a ridiculous amount of gratitude for the healing I’ve experienced from the appropriate diagnostic testing, a focused approach and the right support behind me. I actually can’t believe, now, how awful it was then– I basically wore long sleeves for 2 years to hide the worst of the chronic rashes!

How I feel now speaks volumes but I’m going to re-do all the diagnostic laboratory testing soon to see what has changed in quantifiable measurements and what still needs work.

I will write another post with those results in the upcoming months.

Anyway, here it is:

Anyway, I’ve come SO far in my journey that it must be shared.
I hope my story helps you, or someone you know in some way. I promise it WILL get better.

In best health,
xx Laur

If you’re following along in my journey, you can check out Part 3 of my Health Journey triology HERE!

If you’re interested in working with me for functional nutrition guidance or health coaching, click here.

If you’re interested in working with Dr. Habib and myself to do functional testing and a full-on Functional Medicine program, click here.

• About
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Laura Franklin, CNP, FMCHC

Functional Medicine Health Coach & Holistic Nutritionist at Health Upgraded

Laura Franklin is the owner of Fresh & Frank Wellness and curator of freshandfrank.com.
She is here to preach what she practices and help you to prepare amazing whole food meals from scratch, grow your own organic food and optimize your lifestyle and environment to promote the most vibrant, glowing and energetic you.
Laura is currently based in Dundas, Ontario, Canada but works remotely with people from all over the world!

Latest posts by Laura Franklin, CNP, FMCHC (see all)

• Let’s Get Real: My Personal Health Journey (Part 3) - July 11, 2020
• IG: It’s happening… one of my fave vegetables is coming to life in the garden🤩🥦. Grew these baddies from tiny seeds started back in March.Have you seen brassica seeds? They’re like, sesame seed size but round. Tiny AF.Crazy that those wee balls of life can turn into something like this. Actually amazes me every time and never gets old. May be one of the reasons I love gardening so much.Anyway, these guys get bigger each day and I’m so stoked to eat them.Side note: please pray that the deer don’t get them before I do 😭I had an invader Wednesday night that ate all my green tomatoes, carrot tops, Swiss chard, a large head of romaine lettuce and my bean plants 😱. Stay safe little broccolis, you’re awesome - June 26, 2020
• IG: So I post a lot about gardening… I know. Butgrowing my own food is just one element of my decision to pursue lifelong health personally AND as a career.When my hands aren’t in the soil cultivating plant life, I’m on ZOOM calls with clients as a Holistic Nutritionist and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach cultivating optimal health.I coach and guide my clients one-on-one towards renewed health and high performance using the fundamentals of Functional Medicine… a modality that is near and dear to my heart.I decided to specialize in Functional Medicine because a few years ago, I was a patient of Functional medicine myself. When I found myself in the throws of mystery chronic illness that could not be diagnosed or resolved via conventional medicine or other nutritional and natural therapies, I just knew there was something that was being missed.Upon pursuing Functional Medicine, which looks for the deepest root cause of what’s going on in the body individually, we immediately found the causes of my health challenges and were able to efficiently and appropriately steer me towards a path of renewed optimal health. Within 8 months, my life had completely changed and I was operating at a completely different level of vitality. Functional Medicine changed my life with the gift of renewed health from which I operate as a wellness leader today.So. If you, or someone you love could use help finding some answers to your chronic health issues, or just want to operate at an even higher level of performance and/or vitality, I encourage you to look into Functional Medicine.If you want to chat more about what I do and how my colleague @drnavazhabib and I can support you at our practice @healthupgraded, DM me.If this information helps just one person find answers and better health as it did for me years ago, I will be thrilled - June 22, 2020