The Saratoga Functional Nutrition Story
Hello, I am the sole practitioner of Saratoga Functional Nutrition, Marisa Lester. The practice at SFN began with my own complicated journey back to health. After the birth of my two sons, I experienced an immune system collapse, which lead to 7 years of suffering from anxiety, insomnia, multiple bouts of illness - including strep throat, ear infections, viral meningitis, severe gastrointestinal discomfort and continual colds-- despite my best efforts to follow what I thought then was a "healthy" diet with a few "superfood" type supplements thrown in here or there. The lack of sleep and continual illnesses were debilitating, physically and emotionally. Having grown up an athlete - a Junior Olympic downhill ski racer, a D1 college tennis player, an RYT-200 yoga instructor, an Adirondack 46er.... I thought, "Why is this happening to my body??"-- Especially while trying to raise, care for and enjoy my boys' early years of life, while still working full time and maintaining a home. It was poor timing, and I received little empathy, support or solution from conventional medicine, specialists and tests - they all appeared "normal".
My life changed the day I fully committed to changing my lifestyle. Slowly, and little bits at a time, while following protocols set by a friend and fellow Functional Nutrition Counselor, I started my journey back to feeling good. She (we) saved my life -- and I hope to help change yours (and your children's) so you can begin to live with the vitality, energy and peace that we all deserve.
Shortly after my experiences in naturopathic lifestyle shifts and with a vastly improved health and outlook, I went on to study Functional Nutrition (FxN) through the Functional Nutrition Alliance in order to practice from a functional, root-cause lens. I am a Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor (CFNC) as well as a Registered Yoga Teacher through Ananda Ashram's 200-hour certification program in Monroe, NY.
The practices and knowledge that I have gained through my application based coursework, my personal and familial experiences in healing my body and others', and the compassion and empathy that I feel for all of my clients that are struggling to feel good in their bodies, have driven me into this field with heart-felt gratitude and enabled me to create individualized protocols to help identify root-cause issues and barriers to healing. These root causes can sometimes show up in downstream issues such as : migraines, migrating tics, constipation, food sensitivities and IBS, behavioral issues, energy and sleep cycle disruption, weight gain, weight loss and hormonal imbalances. Performing root-cause identification and resolution together with me as your practitioner will allow you to attain your goals in a gentle, organized and proficient manner - while building habits and lifestyle changes that stick for lasting success.