Have you found your spark; or are you constantly searching for that tiny spark. The little spark that lights the flame in you to go do it. It? It can be anything you want to do but don’t seem to be able to muster up the motivation. The spark can be elusive; constantly evading your grasp. Inevitably leaving you on an never ending quest for motivation.

Whether you want to lose weight, get fit, strong, mobile or all of the above, you can do it. All it takes is belief in yourself. Often we think we’ll fail so we don’t try. I believe in you; you have to believe in yourself too. When I started this late health journey; I dug my heels in and said “yes I will.” You can do it. Whatever it is that you want to achieve, believe it and do it.

I’ll tell you where I got the spark that lit my fire to get healthy (it’s at the end of the blog). First let me give you a little background. I’ve worked out (lifted weights) since the age of 16 and I enjoy it. I consider myself to be very lucky that I actually love working out. There have been times of no working out; weeks to months. But I always come back to it and truly love getting strong.

My diet in my early years was average. I was taught, everything in moderation. Don’t cut anything out, it’s not good to that. So an average diet was what I followed. When I was in my 20s and pregnant with my third child, I had gestational diabetes. At the time, way back in 1990 I was told by my wonderful Dr. to eat meat and veggies, that’s it. He told me that I’d be fine if I ate like this and I was. Over the years my diet went from great to not so great and back again. The typical range of attention paid that a diet gets when you have small children and little time. Plus we didn’t have Dr. google then so you learned from the people around you.

I have always been fairly aware of what I eat because I am very sensitive to too much glucose and suffered with hypoglycemia if I wasn’t paying enough attention to what I ate. My diet was never touched on again by other doctors. But I learned on my own, over the years; that I had to stay away from high carb/sugar foods. And they should be paired with substational protein.

About 10 years ago I found out that I had Hasimoto’s. I was told to cut gluten from my diet, which I did. But that was pretty much all I was told; along with being given a ton of supplements. Since then, I have tried very hard to eat healthy but didn’t realize that just cutting out gluten was not the best advice. Gluten free items are often filled with stuff that isn’t healthy. Best to just skip the carb containing gluten.

Zipping forward to the end January of this year, 2026. I had a regular blood panel done; that resulted in some not so great numbers. In February we discussed the blood test results. My then doctor who I wasn’t a fan of to start with; wanted me to start taking 3 new pills. All she ever talked about was pharmaceuticals. No talk of diet, sleep, activity levels. Just that I had to take all of these things and up my thyroid meds.

The spark that changed it all; came from her final words to me when I asked “what if I change my diet completely?” I am a big believer in food for healing. Of course there are times when you really need “the pill” but much of what is ailing us can be healed by food or cutting out certain foods.

When I asked “what if I change my diet completely?”

She said to me…

“Dear, you won’t be able to do it, at least not long term.”

That was it. That was what changed everything for me. “Oh ya, watch me!” She will not be my Dr. any longer. No doctor should ever tell you that you can’t do it. Although it was the catalyst to prove to myself that I could, and I have.

I had a huge blood panel done in April (at functionhealth.com ask me if you are interested) where my numbers were coming down already just with diet. And then another blood test done just a month ago. I met with my endocrinologist and he was very impressed. Some numbers go down easier than others but I’m in it to win it. I have had a fire set beneath me and I am going to get healthy and stay healthy.

Everyone is different, but anyone can get healthier by changing their eating habits and adding exercise and movement to their daily routine. My now endocrinologist said to me in May “Sherri, these two different test results that are only 3 months apart; look like they are from 2 different people.”

My last appointment that was just a couple weeks ago. He asked if there was anything I wanted to ask him and said “everything looks amazing.” What is the biggest change I’ve made to date? I’ve cut out processed carbs and sugar. I am down 20lbs, have no joint pain and am sleeping much better. A huge part of it is believing that I can do it and making my health a major focus.

What I have learned in the last couple of months has been extremely eye opening. I had no idea. No one does unless you dive in and research this stuff. I try to follow and listen to educated functional doctors who are not sheep in the medical system.

I love sharing the knowledge that I have obtained over the last year. I am passionate about helping other be the best that they can be. Finding your spark can be difficult; but sometimes it just takes someone else believing in you for you to believe in yourself. You can do it. You just have to set your mind to your health and don’t let anyone get in your way.

It’s important work.

I thrive on researching and learning. Having my blood down at functionhealth.com has made a huge impact on my journey. I recommend it highly. Ask me if you want to know about it.