What Happens When You See a Functional Medicine Nutritionist?

Michelle here! If you’ve been wondering what actually happens when you work with a functional medicine nutritionist, this post walks you through exactly what to expect. At HartsSpace, we combine functional nutrition, root-cause exploration, and mind-body eating coaching to help you understand your symptoms, transform your relationship with food, and feel at home in your body again.

This approach is different from a typical nutrition appointment because it looks at the whole person — biology, psychology, stress, lifestyle, and lived experience. If you're curious what a one-on-one session is like, read on!

Your First Session Starts With Your Story: The Functional Medicine Timeline

Instead of starting with a diagnosis or symptom list, we begin with a deep dive into your health history, also known as your timeline. This helps us identify patterns, triggers, and “root causes” behind your symptoms or eating challenges.

We explore:

• Early health history

• Major life events

• Hormonal changes

• Stress periods

• Digestive shifts

• Sleep changes

• Eating patterns

• Emotional layers related to food

  
  

Client Example: A 42-year-old client came in with stubborn weight gain and fatigue. Her timeline revealed two major stress events and a long period of restricted eating. That pattern became the key to understanding her slowed metabolism and chronic cortisol elevation.

A Comprehensive Look at Your Diet, Lifestyle, and Stress Load

Your daily life matters. We assess:

• What you eat and how you eat

• Sleep quality

• Movement patterns

• Nervous system load

• Stress resilience and coping tools

• Body image experiences

• Emotional or stress-driven eating patterns

This provides the client and the nutritionist clarity and often, clear steps for moving forward.

Client Example: A teacher eating “perfectly” on paper still experienced digestive distress. Her symptoms were actually tied to speed-eating between classes and chronic adrenaline spikes — not the food itself. Slowing down meals and regulating her nervous system completely shifted her digestion.

We Review Your Labs — And Often Look Deeper Than Traditional Care

We review (and actually interpret) your doctor’s basic labs, and for the overall picture, we may even request more. As a baseline, we like to review the following:

• CMP

• CBC

• Lipid panel

• HbA1c

• Fasting insulin & glucose

• Complete thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4, TPO/Tg Antibodies)

• Vitamin D

If symptoms call for it, we may also request inflammatory, autoimmune, or further metabolic markers.

Many clients benefit from deeper insight with functional lab testing, such as:

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)

Salivary cortisol curve

DUTCH hormone test

GI microbiome analysis

Food sensitivity testing

We only run these when needed, but they can dramatically clarify what’s driving symptoms.

Client Example: A 38-year-old woman struggled with intense afternoon crashes. Her labs looked “normal,” but a CGM showed her blood sugar dropping into the 60s daily. Adjusting her breakfast and meal timing completely eliminated the crashes.

Collaboration With Your Healthcare Team

While we specialize in functional nutrition and mind-body eating psychology, we deeply value collaboration with other healthcare providers. We are not medical doctors, and we don’t diagnose or replace your physician. Instead, we enhance and support your care.

We often work alongside:

• Primary care physicians

• Gastroenterologists

• Endocrinologists

• Mental health therapists

• Chiropractors, acupuncturists, and physical therapists

• Pelvic floor therapists

• Naturopathic doctors

Many clients come to us after being told “everything looks normal” but still not feeling like themselves. Our role is to look deeper at lifestyle, nutrition, stress, digestion, hormones, and behavioral patterns that may be contributing to symptoms. When these pieces shift, clients often experience significant improvements in energy, mood, sleep, digestion, weight regulation, and overall vitality.

We believe deeply in the power of lifestyle and nutrition to transform health, not by replacing conventional medicine, but by working hand-in-hand with it.

We Integrate Mind-Body Eating Coaching

This is another area where our work becomes different from conventional nutrition counseling. As a mind-body eating coach (Michelle) and mental health counselor (Katie), we explore the emotional, psychological, and behavioral patterns influencing your eating experience.

We look at things like:

• Stress eating

• Restriction-binge cycles

• Eating speed and rhythm

• Body image narratives

• Negative self-talk

• The beliefs shaping your choices

• Emotional hunger vs. physical hunger

You cannot separate mind and body.

Client Example: A long-term client had “tried every diet” but always regained weight. Her root cause wasn’t metabolic dysfunction — it was years of hyper-critical body talk and using food to soothe emotional overload. As we worked on self-compassion, stress regulation, and body trust, her compulsive eating episodes decreased dramatically.

Movement, Nature, and Nervous System Support

A big part of our approach is recognizing that healing doesn’t just happen in the kitchen or through lab data. We strongly believe in the therapeutic power of movement, muscle health, and nature as medicine.

Sometimes this looks like:

• Getting outside daily for natural light exposure

• Walking as a tool for nervous system regulation

• Movement that feels supportive, not punishing

• Nature-based practices to reduce inflammation and stress

• Mindful movement to reconnect with the body

• Strength training to build metabolic flexibility and support hormone balance

• Muscle-focused movement to improve energy, stability, and stress resilience

We value muscle health because it plays a major role in blood sugar regulation, metabolic health, and emotional steadiness. For many clients, lifting weights or integrating resistance-based movement becomes a true turning point. Not just for their physique, but for mood, confidence, and long-term health. Similarly, clients are often shocked at how impactful getting outside daily can be.

Your Plan Is Personalized (Biochemical Individuality in Action)

Two people may have the same symptom — fatigue, bloating, cravings, weight gain — and require completely different interventions.

Your plan may include:

• A personalized nutrition approach

• Strategies for balancing blood sugar

• Digestive and gut repair protocols

• Hormone support

• Anti-inflammatory nutrition

• Stress-regulation practices

• Mind-body eating tools

• Nervous-system-based strategies

• Movement recommendations that fit your life

• Sleep support

• Supplementation if appropriate

• Functional lab-informed interventions

This is not a one-size-fits-all program. It’s a root-cause, individualized, evidence-informed plan built around your biology and your life.

How Long Do People Work With Us?

It varies based on goals and depth of work. It can be challenging to know how long it will take for someone's body to heal. In more "simple cases" we may see someone for a short-term time. The reality is that true healing can take months (sometimes years) and sometimes uncovering your personal root cause can take some trial and error and exploration. Due to this, we have a wide range of duration that clients will work with us.

Short-term (2–4 months):

• Gut issues

• Blood sugar support

• Hormone imbalances

• Energy concerns

• Nutrient deficiencies

• Metabolic optimization

Longer-term (6–12+ months):

• Emotional eating

• Body image healing

• Chronic stress patterns

• Nervous system work

• Long-standing metabolic dysfunction

• Rebuilding trust in food and body

• Recovering from years of dieting

Insurance Coverage & Costs

We’re in-network with:

• Regence

• Premera

• First Choice

• Aetna

• Lifewise

Many plans cover our services at 100%. Don’t see your insurer listed? Reach out. We’re happy to verify whether your plan qualifies. We also offer cash pricing. To get our cash rates, please reach out to the provider you want to see.

What You Leave With

Our goal is that clients walk away feeling:

• Empowered

• Informed

• Connected to their bodies

• Clear about what’s driving their symptoms

• Resilient in their relationship with food

• Rooted in a lifestyle that truly supports them

This isn’t about short-term fixes. It’s about understanding yourself on a deeper level and building a foundation you can return to for life.

If this sounds like support you need, reach out to one of our providers here. If you know of a loved one who could use this type of care, please send them this blog! The relationships we build with our clients are incredibly special and we're here to help where we can.