A dreamer and a doer, Toréa Rodriguez has packed in a lot of life experience. From biochemistry to tech, to becoming a private pilot, she’s chased more dreams than most. But she’s paid a price: the stress of her lifestyle triggered an autoimmune disease. In this interview she tells the story of her formidable journey out of Hashimoto’s Disease, and how she’s found a greater purpose on the other side.
When her bloodwork was returned from the lab, it was the worst news imaginable
When you are a high achiever like Toréa, you push ahead no matter the obstacles. But she reached a point in her life where that simply wasn’t possible. Fatigue and exhaustion had become common aspects of her life and she finally expressed concern to her doctor. Blood was drawn, sent off to the lab and she waited for news. When the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Disease was delivered, her life was changed forever. In this conversation, Toréa and I chat about the feelings of shame she felt about her disease, why she kept it from her friends and loved ones, the long journey out of it and into a place of mental and emotional wholeness, and how her disease led her into a career as a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® practitioner.
Typical treatments for autoimmune disease are entirely wrong. Here’s why.
Traditional treatments for autoimmune diseases are applied in ways that infer that the problem is with the system that is affected by the disease when the truth is that the part or system of the body that is not functioning properly is being attacked by the autoimmune system. Effective treatment has to start there, discovering why the body’s autoimmune functions are reacting as they are. This realization is one of many things that enabled Toréa to think differently about her condition. In her own words, “blindly following what others were telling me to do was not going to fix this. There was no rescue ship coming.” Listen to our conversation to hear how she embarked on a different course and discovered there’s a lot more to being a healing practitioner than medicine and specializations.
Transformation often happens slowly, step by step – and it requires a true commitment
Toréa finally began to experience a health transformation, but it didn’t happen overnight. Her first steps were in the form of commitments: she would change her life by eating real food and focusing on nourishment & nutrient density. She took a good look at her lifestyle and reconfigured it to be supportive of autoimmune disease rather than antagonistic toward it. She learned about functional medicine and started the repair of the abnormal function of her autoimmune system. She learned to deal with stress in a healthy way, to slow down, and most importantly – to look at autoimmune disease, not as a thing she had to fix, but as part of herself! It really is an amazing transformation that I’d love you to hear about, so please, take the time to listen.
If you want to find health and healing, you’ve got to treat the body as a unit.
One of the maddening things Toréa learned during her battle to overcome Hashimoto’s Disease is that traditional medicine is practiced in a way that segments the various systems and functions of the body into specializations. For example, a heart specialist knows a great deal about the heart – but very little about the endocrine system. The result is diagnosis and treatment plans that don’t take into consideration what’s going on in the entire body – how systems and responses connect with and impact each other. That’s why Toréa has embraced functional medicine, and through it has found “the thing” she considers to be her calling – to help those with chronic health issues, including autoimmune disease, break free of their frustration by taking simple steps to transform their vitality without complex medical treatment. You can hear her entire story, on this episode of NextFem.
Episode Highlights
- 2:17 -Toréa’s journey from biochemistry, to private pilot and the worst news of her life
- 7:26 – How the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Disease impacted Toréa’s life
- 13:27 – How Toréa realized her shame about her disease and opened the doors toward healing
- 25:21 – How functional medicine treats the whole body, not just the disease or condition.
- 29:06 – What you should look for in a great functional medicine doctor or practitioner
- 37:05 – How you can achieve personal goals without sacrificing your lifestyle or health
- 41:02 – The RIGHT metrics to focus on when it comes to being healthy
Resources Mentioned
- Torea’s website
- Functional medicine doctor Chris Kresser
- Dr. Lissa Rankin, NY Times bestselling author of Mind Over Medicine
- Brene Brown, author of Daring Greatly and Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted
1. Favorite book for women?
- A Mind Of Your Own by Dr. Kelly Brogan
2. Favorite self-care hack?
- Get outside first thing in the morning.
3. Best piece of advice and who gave it to you?
- “You are stronger than you think.” -Toréa found it on a quote card in Portland, OR
4. Female CEO or thought leader you’re into right now?
5. One piece of advice you’d give your 5 years younger self?
- “It’s OK to be right where you are. What you’re going through is a gift and you can’t even imagine what is inside that box, but it’s OK to start untying the bow.”
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