KBW | What Makes KB Wellness Different?

I was recently asked, “What makes you different?” honestly…a whole lot…so much so that I thought it was obvious if you poke around my website or social media at all! But it must not be, so let’s dive into it so you can see if KB Wellness is right for you…or not!

Our Approach is Holistic and Integrative

What is an Integrative Approach?

The definition of “integrative” is “combining allopathic and complementary therapies” (Oxford Dictionary). This means we understand that no one tool can fix everything for everyone. This also means tools do not need to be mutually exclusive. You may be able to fix that elbow pain with a complementary treatment like acupuncture and red light therapy, or you may need surgery. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate acupuncture and red light therapy into your surgical healing plan. Or that you need to shun surgery altogether if that turns out to be the best path for you. We don’t shun any one tool at the expense of another over here at KB Wellness. We believe in empowering our clients with information on pros and cons, risks and benefits, potential outcomes, and more so they can best advocate for their health, whatever that looks like for them. 

What Does Holistic Mean?

The definition of “holistic” is “characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of an illness” (Oxford Dictionary). Here at KB Wellness, we don’t hyperfocus on one area of the body and think what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. We operate under the premise that the entire body is interconnected and related. If your hormones are low and all you do is take hormones to raise them…did you really fix anything, or did you just cover up a problem? When I see a client has low testosterone I’m going to look and see if their stress levels are high and their sleep is poor or if their gut is a mess which could be disrupting their sleep and stress levels as well. That way, we can fix the problem at its root instead of just symptom managing and covering the real problem. It means not addressing just one part at a time. It’s all connected.

A holistic approach also means realizing all the different systems of the human, body, mind, and spirit all impact overall health. It’s not just about what you eat. It’s also about what toxins you put on your body (ie, phthalate-laden perfume or body lotion), it’s about your relationships and social connections, it’s about your mental state, and so much more.

And this leads me to my next point. This may all sound very “woo woo,” but what we do at KB Wellness is science-based. There is plenty of scientific evidence to show the interrelated relationship between the gut and your hormones, your mind and your body, your trauma and your health, and on and on. 

We Are Science-Based

If you read that last sentence and thought it was bizarre that trauma can impact your health, you may want to take a moment to read up on neuropsychoimmunology, a relatively new field that examines the interrelatedness of psychology, the nervous system, the immune system, and resulting disease states. A user-friendly read can be found on Healthline.  

Because we believe that everything is connected, we refuse to put our clients in a box and hyperfocus on one area. And the benefit of that is more than you can imagine. You’ll not only experience symptom relief in that one area, but you’ll notice improvements in areas you didn’t even realize were a problem previously. And perhaps the best part, you’ll reduce the risk of future issues you didn’t even know you were at risk for. Sure, we will work hard to address the main presenting symptoms, whether it’s gut pain, headaches, or hair loss, but we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to make sure everything that makes you YOU is examined for weaknesses and a plan of improvement whether that’s your food, your relationships, your sleep, your stress management or your toxic body burden.

An example is a client that came to KB Wellness post breast cancer treatment. She wanted to work on weight loss, but what we realized when we dug deeper was that her weight, and breast cancer, were both correlated to the same thing, an elevated 4OH estrogen pathway with slow COMT methylation. Those words might not mean much to you, and that’s ok. That’s our job to understand those works and then to take our time educating you to understand them, too, so you can take that information to your entire healthcare team. The plan for her became working on her COMT methylation and her 4OH pathway (often termed “the breast cancer pathway”).  

We Believe Bioindividuality Is Key

Cookie-cutter, one size fits all programs are not my thing. And that’s because I believe that bio-individuality (aka each individual is different) is incredibly important. If you’re wondering why your neighbor’s gut pain resolved after taking that probiotic, but yours didn’t, or why your friend lost weight drinking a detox tea but you didn’t, that’s because you are a unique individual and you are different than your neighbor and your friend. You have your own set of genetic data, and your MTHFR, COMT, PEMT, APOE, FUT2, and other genes all impact your individual outcomes. You also have your own unique health history. If you recently took 4 rounds of antibiotics and your neighbor didn’t, they don’t have nearly as much damage to undo, which is why popping a little ole probiotic helped them but not you. 

This is another reason why education and empowerment are a cornerstone of my practice. I want to not only help you find health, but I also want to teach you about yourself so that you can take care of your health for your entire lifetime. I don’t want you to need to work with me time after time, year after year. I want to download my brain into yours on everything specific to you and your bio-individuality so you know what labs to stay on top of, what foods serve you best, what your weaknesses are to continue to focus on, and what tools to have in your toolbox that work best for you to get you the results you so desperately want. 

Our Approach is Not Fear-Based, and We Don’t Strive for Perfection

In fact, inside of my membership, The KB Club, you’ll hear me say on pretty much every single call my favorite phrase, “Remember ladies, it’s good better best.” What I mean by this is that every single thing we do does not have to be absolutely perfect. A whole-house reverse osmosis water filtration system may not be in your budget right now, and that’s OK. That might be the best option, but there’s also a better option with an under-the-sink filter and a shower filter. And even more still, there’s a perfectly good option that’s just a nice quality water filtration jug that sits in your fridge. Often I see others in pursuit of perfection become so overwhelmed they throw up their hands and not only give up completely but they go in the opposite direction. “It’s too hard to count every calorie and eat all organic and home-cooked meals. Forget it! I’m going to Mcdonald's!”. 

So at KB Wellness, we take a real bite-sized approach to health and wellness, and we apply the good, better, best philosophy to everything we do. Are you a big wine drinker, but you know it’s contributing to your insomnia and weight gain? Maybe we can talk about scaling it back to one or two glasses a week instead of one or two bottles. Can’t make everything from scratch? That’s ok. Trader Joe's and Costcos have amazing options to help you, like already spiralized butternut squash you can throw in the oven and bake with olive oil and salt for a delicious side or precut Brussel's sprouts you can toss in the air fryer! We find that making small manageable changes snowball over time and lead you farther than the path of health and wellness you ever thought possible. 

We Have the Education Needed

In the internet world of nutrition & health, credentials and education can be confusing. Depending on the state a practitioner presides, the laws may be different than other states adding to the confusion. But here at KB Wellness, we did not just slap the word expert on our website and call it a day. Contrary to many “coaches” out there that have no actual credentials beyond a weekend class from an MLM shake company, at KB Wellness, we have walked the walk, talked the talk, and have the background and credentials to go with it. 

IIN Certified

Personally, I am a health coach certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and hold an additional certification in the AutoImmune Protocol. I also hold a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Clinical Nutrition & Human Performance, where I specialized in disorders of the GI Tract, most notably IBS and IBD. I earned both my undergraduate and graduate degrees with distinction as well. I have also completed over 1,000 supervised clinical hours under the supervision of a certified CNS (Certified Nutrition Specialist) Mentor, and I’ve taken several courses on interpreting functional labs and utilizing them in an integrative and holistic approach. I’ve had my practice for many years now, and I have a proven track record of success in helping hundreds of women achieve optimal health, with testimonials to back my claims. 

But before all of this education and credentialing, I was in your shoes. I used to be exhausted, overwhelmed, and chronically ill. I had positive autoimmune markers, loads of symptoms, and had tried all the Drs, all the fads, all the diets, and *all the things* and got nowhere. So I get it. I empathize. I don't judge.

Meet Jacqui Zimmerman, RD

Kristen’s right-hand practitioner is Jacqui Zimmerman, RD. Jacqui works with all of Kristen’s KB Wellness one on one clients as well as The KB Club membership members. Like Kristen, Jacqui is also a health coach, certified by the Health Coach Institute, and she is also an Autoimmune Protocol Certified Coach. Jacqui also holds a license as a Registered Dietitian and comes from a rich background of working in a variety of clinical settings, including large hospitals. Jacqui has also received specialized training in functional testing and protocols for disorders of the GI tract, one of her favorite specialties to work on. 

Jacqui also provides a no-judgment zone for our clients and is incredibly passionate about helping her clients implement dietary and lifestyle changes to achieve symptom remission. She is especially passionate about helping individuals with autoimmune diseases since she herself is an autoimmune sufferer who was able to put her own condition into remission using the Autoimmune protocol.

Is KB Wellness Right for You?

KB Wellness isn’t for everyone, and every situation is different. There is no one perfect clinical practice out there that can help everyone in the world. We are all unique in our own way. And now that you know more about my practice here at KB Wellness, you’ll be better equipped to decide if we’re right for you.