Frequently Asked Questions

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“There is no power-boating to health.” Healing isn’t easy and may not be a smooth or linear process. Without expert guidance and a good system, you are very likely to waste a lot of time, feel overwhelmed and frustrated, and potentially quit.  A caring and competent coach can dig deeper, fully assess your situation, and identify the limiting factors and beliefs that are holding you back from getting healthy; develop an individualized healing protocol and recovery plan that you are able to follow—even on your toughest days; help you navigate the inevitable ups and downs of change; strategize, troubleshoot, and adjust your plan along the way. My transformational coaching style is a client-centered partnership. During our time together you will receive continued personalized attention and support. I will guide you, coach you, offer the right tools and strategies to help you overcome the distraction, interruption, and limited willpower. You will move forward a lot faster working with a coach than struggling on your own.

This will depend on your health needs and goals, available budget, required support, and time duration. Feel free to schedule a complimentary discovery call with me, and I will be more than happy to help you find an option that best suits your needs.

We will meet online through video chat. If you are local to the Charleston, SC area we will meet in-person for some sessions.  You will be able to choose from the list of available days and time slots via my Calendly link and schedule each coaching session at a time that is convenient for you. Early on, we will meet every two weeks. As you progress, we will meet less frequently, but I will always be available for quick questions via email or text.

People often underestimate how much the loss of health and vitality could cost them. For example, if you battle with several health issues, you may not be able to perform as well at your job and have to take a leave of absence or worse, be let go. The direct wage losses over the year(s) could be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, let alone the loss of vitality, physical pain, and mental distress. This is an extreme example, but it's possible. I have heard these stories before. Next, think about all of the trial and error you've been through. How much money you've spent on solutions that haven't worked. People also underestimate how much they can do to influence their health, making it scary to devote the necessary time and money. True healing can happen when you take charge of your own health, remove the obstacles blocking you from healing, and apply the health-promoting protocols that restore normal function. Are you concerned that your health issues might stop you from pursuing your ultimate vision? Are you tired of being chronically sick? Are you even more tired of the cycle of trial and error? Your health growth will parallel your personal growth and create a ripple effect of life transformation. Just imagine being symptom-free, functioning at 100%, and living to your full potential! What is that worth to you? I am sure you will find that it is so worth your investment.

Too often people try things here and there without a systematic roadmap. They want to fix the problem without addressing the basics first. They look for a quick fix and shortcut, pop a pill, take a shot, follow a one-size-fits-most diet, and generic healing protocols without discovering and addressing their bio-individuality. They introduce too many or too big of changes without professional guidance, tools, resources and corrective strategies leaving them overwhelmed and disappointed. I take a true functional approach, always looking for underlying imbalance and hidden stressors. I follow a systematic roadmap, respect the body’s healing priority and focus on nutritional foundations that promote self-healing and lead to long-term results. My program is based on the guiding principles of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, which is a proven effective system that has helped thousands of people resolve their health challenges. This complete and total reliance on science, rather than on emotions, preferences, popular concepts, or fad ideas sets it apart from others.

I cannot guarantee results as this is an opt-in self-treatment model. I cannot be responsible for a client's actions taken outside of our sessions. Part of your success depends on how deeply we continue the investigation and how strictly the client adheres to the protocols and recommendations. However, clients can have a reasonable expectation. I am here to support and guide you step-by-step at every point during the program. If you allow me to take all the steps to identify the healing opportunities and hidden stressors, and you are able to follow the protocols and apply wellness principles diligently, I am very confident your will achieve your health goals.

Although a specific clinical outcome can’t be guaranteed, here is what I can guarantee:

• I will work tirelessly to investigate your case and identify the hidden stressors.
• I will help you discover and implement the most targeted and comprehensive approach for achieving your health goals.
• I will provide the highest quality of personal care that I can.

We will work together to investigate your hidden stressors and identify your healing opportunities. As we start to implement the targeted therapy and apply wellness principles, your body will be given the chance to heal. Just simply changing your diet (like removing reactive foods, balancing blood sugar, optimizing macronutrient ratios), some clients start to feel a difference and notice significant improvements right away. Remember, it probably took years for your problems to develop, so it will take some time to fully heal. But if you have professional guidance and a personalized plan to follow, you will move forward a lot faster than struggling on your own.

 Supplements are often necessary and recommended for several reasons:

1. Substitution for nutrients that are missing in foods today due to depleted soils and farming practices.
2. Stimulation of bodily functions and systems that are sluggish or not working optimally.
3. Support for organs and systems that are weak and need assistance while the body is healing.
4. Self-treatment for relief from certain conditions, i.e. parasites/pathogens, where one prefers to avoid prescription medications.

At the end of your first 90 days, as long as you have been following the protocol diligently, you should feel a noticeable improvement in your health! However, there is more work to do as achieving and maintaining optimal health is a lifelong effort. Because I so strongly believe this, I have incorporated an annual concierge services membership that can be paid monthly. 

At the end of 90 days you can:

1. Graduate from the Age Well with Danielle program and continue your journey on your own
2. Re-onboard for an additional 90 days, meaning further investigation into your health challenges is warranted and further testing is needed
3. Move into maintenance via my concierge services. We will meet monthly for check-ins, you will have regular access to me via portal messaging if any needs or questions arise, and you have the option to re-test labs to track progress and add any additional labs you may be interested in. I recommend re-testing at least once per year to keep a close watch on your health status. I am always keeping a pulse on the latest longevity science and the associated protocols. I will, of course, share all of this with you and help keep you on track towards living your healthiest, most vibrant life year round!

I work with all my clients in packages as this is the best way to meet the clients’ needs. As much as we may wish for a magic pill and quick fixes, they don’t exist. Healing is a journey. It requires time, dedication, and commitment, from both client and practitioner. A package structure allows me to allocate quality time to understand your health situation, analyze your assessment results, and investigate your case. It also provides the framework to dig deeply into all the hidden stressors that impact your health, connect the dots, build personalized healing protocol, and develop step-by-step actionable plans. Like in every journey, there is a starting point, with rest stops and course changes along the way. Working together over the course of time helps us develop deeper, longer-lasting relationships, which is so critical in the healing process. I will give you the on-going support and necessary push when you are on the threshold of a breakthrough. The package structure sets you up for success and better results.

Ideal weight is a direct manifestation of good health. There are multiple factors contributing to your weight problem, such as nutrient imbalance, gut dysbiosis, toxin overload, blood sugar irregularities, insulin resistance, stress, lack of sleep, inflammatory foods, poor diet, hormone imbalance, etc. If these underlying causes are not addressed, the ideal weight cannot be achieved and maintained in the long run. Those outdated thoughts of “calories in calories out”, “eat less exercise more” are proven to be ineffective. Once we remove reactive foods and reduce the inflammation, the fluid retention is reduced. Once we enhance the metabolic flexibility, the body is able to use stored energy (fat) as fuel. So weight loss is often experienced as a byproduct when the body starts healing and returns to a place of balance but with greater ease than you solely focusing on weight loss. Once you eat clean and healthy whole foods and once you figure out the foods and macronutrient ratios that are right for your metabolic type, your body gets connected instinctively with the right amount of food to eat. In turn, you always get satisfied with the right amount of calories. Your body will gradually shift toward your natural  weight and stay there for the rest of your life.

To overcome your health challenges and achieve your health goals, you do need to give some time and effort and prioritize self-care. There are no magic pills. The program will require a shift in behavior and a change in mindset. It does take some work and willingness to try new things. However, as you’re working toward making small daily changes that lead to long-lasting healthy habits, you will still need to live your life. I always meet my clients where they are. Together we will find an approach that works for your unique situation. I see the value in taking baby steps. Those small shifts add up over time and lead to big result. 

At the end of your program, as long as you have followed the protocol diligently, you should feel a noticeable improvement in your health! However, there could very well be more work needed.  

You can choose to:

1. Re-onboard with me for re-testing and/or additional testing to see data-backed improvements and/or uncover further healing opportunities (if needed) -OR-
2. You can move into maintenance and continue with your lifestyle changes on your own.

Unfortunately, functional lab testing and health coaching are typically not within the scope of the standard medical model, so insurance companies do not cover this type of expense. We are working towards changing that in the future! But even though functional health is not yet a part of the standard health care system, more and more people are recognizing the effectiveness of using nutrition and lifestyle shifts to support the body in achieving optimal health and vitality.

Yes! To make the programs available and accessible to all who truly want to discover their ability to influence their health and invest in improving their health, payment options are offered. Please see my  "Packages" page for details. 

This is a great question. When your doctor told you your lab results were "normal" how did that make you feel when you know something feels off for you? You don't feel like yourself, so why are you being told everything looks fine? This is, in part, due to lab references ranges being an average of the total population regardless of health status. This produces a wider bell-curve and can vary from lab to lab. This means the lab is basing their ranges on a mix of healthy and unhealthy people, and unfortunately, more people are becoming sicker and increasingly unhealthy every day in America. You conventional doctor is also looking for disease states, meaning you are far outside the lab reference ranges, before sounding the alarm that something is really wrong. This is not what I look for as an FDNP. The reference ranges I use  attempt to reflect a population that is more self-aware, better educated on health, and on a personal health journey. This produces a narrower bell-curve. I focus on pattern recognition and always correlate my findings with the client's health history, symptoms, and genetic potential. 

The conventional medical approach is to diagnose and treat specific diseases, so the panel of conventional lab tests is used to look for established disease patterns. Functional lab testing provides an evaluation of an organ’s functional value or its capacity to fulfil its physiological function. Although functional lab tests cover a number of quantitative diagnostic procedures, they are particularly useful in avoiding or reversing chronic conditions and optimizing wellness. Functional lab testing may include blood, stool, urine, saliva or hair samples to provide information about a variety of systems including hormonal, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy production, metabolic, nutritional and others. It provides a deeper understanding of why dysfunction is occurring and conduces to effective strategies to restore balance.

I am unable to refund a client once lab tests are ordered and sent in for analysis and services are rendered. However, if you have a change of heart, and lab tests have not been ordered, I am happy to provide you with a refund.

Yes! All my clients’ information is stored in a HIPAA compliant site, where all personally identifiable data are encrypted. Secure chat messaging and telehealth video chat are used for communication. Your information will not be used or shared with anyone without your consent.