Whitney Coupland · 37 min
Faced with a life-altering thyroid diagnosis and pressure to accept surgery or lifelong medication, Whitney Coupland chose a radically different path, and healed herself through food, self-trust, and sheer determination.
Hear this story
When Whitney Coupland was in her early 30s, pregnant with her second child, her midwife noticed an enlarged thyroid during a routine exam. The diagnosis came quickly: Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition. Her endocrinologist offered two paths forward: wait for medication or have her thyroid removed. Neither felt right to her. She refused to accept those options and decided to investigate alternatives herself.
Whitney's first attempt with a naturopathic doctor left her overwhelmed. She was given a long list of problematic foods and told to eliminate them all, but with no structure and while raising two young children, the rigid restrictions felt impossible to sustain. The turning point came in the car, eating a bland sweet potato and spinach salad she found deeply unsatisfying. Instead of pushing through, she searched for recipes she would actually want to eat. That search led her to the Autoimmune Protocol: a structured elimination diet with clear stages, not a black-and-white list with no guidance.
It took Whitney a few attempts to prepare properly with alternative ingredients like cassava flour and tapioca starch. Once she committed to the 30-day elimination phase, the physical changes came quickly. The constant swelling in her throat disappeared. Her energy improved. More importantly, she learned that her body had thresholds for different foods, and she could now make intentional choices about what to eat based on whether it genuinely contributed to her quality of life.
Today, four years into the protocol, Whitney coaches hundreds of women through the same work. The health transformation extended far beyond her body: she learned to set boundaries, speak up for herself, and parent with intention. She credits her illness with teaching her to use her voice, and now believes she is ready to let the rest of her healing unfold.
“you're going to be told left right and Center that there's nothing you can do that you don't have control and that this is the Band-Aid solution being offered to you but if you never question it then that's going to be your reality.”
“the person who knows best is you and anybody else in your space is simply an advisor and you can take or leave what they have to say.”
“thank you for this illness it's taught me so much”
The hero, today
When Whitney got her Hashimoto's diagnosis, she made a choice: she would not accept the endocrinologist's offer of medication or surgery, but instead took full responsibility for investigating other options herself. The moment Whitney stopped following a rigid food plan that made her miserable and started looking for recipes she actually wanted to eat, her commitment to the protocol became sustainable instead of punishing. After four years of following the Autoimmune Protocol, Whitney learned that her body has thresholds for different foods, and she can now eat for quality of life by asking whether something will genuinely contribute to her wellbeing before she decides to eat it. The health work Whitney did rewired how she approaches everything else: she now sets boundaries at work, asks for what she needs, speaks her mind in relationships, and parents her children with the same intentionality she brought to her diet. Whitney believes the thyroid illness taught her to use her voice and speak her truth, and now that she has learned that lesson, she is ready to let the rest of her healing unfold.
Yes. Whitney Coupland is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
When Whitney got her Hashimoto's diagnosis, she made a choice: she would not accept the endocrinologist's offer of medication or surgery, but instead took full responsibility for investigating other options herself.
The moment Whitney stopped following a rigid food plan that made her miserable and started looking for recipes she actually wanted to eat, her commitment to the protocol became sustainable instead of punishing.
After four years of following the Autoimmune Protocol, Whitney learned that her body has thresholds for different foods, and she can now eat for quality of life by asking whether something will genuinely contribute to her wellbeing before she decides to eat it.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:07
Welcome to the Kintsugi Heroes podcast, where we share inspirational stories of everyday people going through different challenges and how they overcome them. Please be aware that the story you're about to hear may have moments of deeply felt emotions and personal experiences. If anything you hear has a triggering effect please reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you love this conversation, we'd love you to like and share it with your friends so we can continue to share more inspiration and hope to as many people as possible. Now listen up for our next hero story. And in this episode today, I met with the lovely Whitney Coupland, who describes her journey with health issues This is one that's going to be very relevant and familiar to a lot of people because more and more people are becoming sick with different diseases, autoimmune diseases. And Whitney unfortunately had it for most of her life. She had a diagnosis in her teens and then another one of Hashimoto's disease two decades later. And what's really inspiring about Whitney's story is the way that she saw this as something to tackle herself but also be responsible for. She asked, how can I keep my thyroid and how can I stay healthy, instead of just succumbing to the medical pressures to just go and get something cut out. But she also wanted to live a quality of life, and she figured it out. She now helps other women to take control of their health and heal naturally so that they can also enjoy their lives. It's a lovely story and it was really inspiring. I love what she's doing and how she's helping others, and I'm sure you're going to enjoy this story with Whitney Copeland. Hello, and here we are. It's another episode and I'm here with Whitney Copeland. It is so lovely to see you. Thank you for joining me.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 02:17
Thanks so much for having me.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:19
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The health work Whitney did rewired how she approaches everything else: she now sets boundaries at work, asks for what she needs, speaks her mind in relationships, and parents her children with the same intentionality she brought to her diet.
This conversation includes a polar dip at the cottage, the raynaud's diagnosis, twenty years later, pregnant with her second child, the endocrinologist's limited options, the food sensitivity test and rigid diet and a terrible salad in the car.
That accent comes from somewhere. Can you let our listeners know whereabouts you are?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 02:25
Yes, I am in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:32
Lovely. And you would be fooled to think— you might think that it's warm because you can see the sun streaming in, and just like it's sunny here, except it's probably a little bit warmer where I am.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 02:42
But, um, yeah, we're, we're in our winter here. Yes.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:46
Yep. We're in the smack bang in the middle of our summer. So this is Consumer Heroes. You're here to share your story, and I want to thank you first of all for being willing and open to sharing your story. It takes a lot of bravery and vulnerability to be able to share one's story the way that people do on this, on this show. And so I just want to honor you for that and thank you.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 03:11
Yeah, of course.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 03:12
Well, let's get started. This is about you. I'd like to hand over to you now, Whitney, and ask you to take us back to the beginning.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 03:20
So my story begins in another part of Canada. I grew up in Toronto, Ontario. So over there, the winters are a bit more harsh than they are here on the West Coast. And we'll take the story back to when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I was up at my parents' cottage or cabin. So the people here out in British Columbia call getaway homes cabins, but in Ontario we call them cottages. So I was at the cottage with my parents and my younger sister. It was May, so we were just coming out of winter season. The lake that the cottage is on had just melted, and my sister and I thought it would be fun to go for a polar dip. So you may have heard of it before, but oftentimes, at least here in British Columbia, on the 1st of January, people like to go running into the freezing cold ocean water for fun. It wasn't really my thing, but my sister and I had this idea to jump into this freezing cold lake water. And so we did. But when I came out of the water, to my astonishment, my hands and actually my right arm was totally white and numb. And so my dad had to actually use his physical force of his hands to get the blood flow going back into my arm and my hands. And that was really strange. So we thought we should get that checked out by the doctor. And it was a very quick diagnosis of something called Raynaud's. Raynaud's syndrome, Raynaud's phenomenon, there's different names for it, but essentially your blood vessels constrict prematurely. So the average person would not lose their circulation walking down the freezer or frozen section at the grocery store, But someone like me with Raynaud's, if I catch a chill, then my circulation will start to go, starting with my middle finger. And then if it gets more severe, it can take over the hand. Luckily, since that one situation in the freezing cold lake, I have not had my whole arm go white because I very quickly learned to avoid such situations. So that's really where my story begins. But I think in order to really capture the rest of this story, I do have to fast forward 20 years later, actually in my early 30s, when I received another diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is I have an enlarged thyroid gland. So it— I don't know if you can really see it when I swallow. You can see it. But that's another autoimmune diagnosis. So I had that first diagnosis around— nobody can really pinpoint the age— 12 or 13. And then this second diagnosis when I was pregnant with my second child. So that's really where my story begins, is with these autoimmune diagnoses.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 06:39
So take me through then what happened, you know, I guess when you got this, the second diagnosis, you know, was something going on for you that caused you to go and get it, get a checkup? And then, you know, where did that take you from at that point?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 06:57
Yes. So it was actually kind of a fluke that I got this second diagnosis because I didn't notice that anything was wrong. I had a toddler and I was pregnant. So fatigue, you know, low energy, any kind of weird feelings, you're not really associating it with any kind of issue. But it was actually my midwife who was just doing a physical exam and noticed that my thyroid was enlarged. And so she recommended, go and see your medical doctor right away, have that, you know, an ultrasound done, have an extraction of the cells done to make sure it's not cancerous. And because I had all of that testing done, it was a very quick diagnosis where many, many people who have autoimmune conditions, it takes them years of trial and tribulation. They're going to doctors, they're being told that they're crazy. The symptoms aren't lining up to anything. And it's a very frustrating journey for a lot of people. So I, in a sense, was very blessed. Both of my diagnoses were like, this is a very apparent thing that's happening. This is the name for it. And so with that second diagnosis, I knew it was more serious in the sense that I needed to do something about it because I wanted to save my thyroid. I knew that a lot of people with Hashimoto's end up on medication for life. Some people have to have surgery, and that's not the route that I wanted to take. And at the time of my diagnosis, my thyroid levels in my blood work were okay. And they weren't indicating that I needed medication right away. But I was being told by the endocrinologist that my only options were to wait until I did require medication. And if this physically bothered me or I didn't like the look of it, I could have it removed. So I really got turned off by that and I knew that's not the route I wanted to go. I have a background in nutrition. So like I knew there were other options and I decided to go and see a naturopathic doctor. And before I went to that appointment, I was like, whatever I am asked to do, I'm doing it. Like I'm going all in with this. If they say there's $500 worth of testing and supplements, I'm doing it because I really want to, to deal with this. So I went in and of course, yes, I was advised to do some testing. And food sensitivity testing was one of those things. So I agreed to it and I left with a whole slew of supplements at the same time. And I had to go back for the results to this naturopath, and she basically broke down this food sensitivity testing for me. And it was really shocking because I was a nutritionist and I knew what healthy food was and I was taking really good care of my body. But everything that I was eating was showing up on this test as problematic. And remember, I had a little, um, toddler, and by this time I actually had an infant. So I was having all this information thrown at me, and it was like, you need to make all these changes. And I didn't know how I was going to do it. I didn't know how I was going to turn my entire diet upside down and learn this whole new way of living. While trying to raise two young kids. So I did take her advice for a short while and tried following this really rigid plan, but it was becoming really frustrating. I was really hungry all the time. Nothing was convenient about it. I couldn't really go out and be on the go and just have something to eat in a restaurant if we were I was driving, you know, for a while in the car. I couldn't just stop and pick something up. So one day we were going out of town and I made this salad with sweet potato and I think some ground up meat of some kind. I remember being in the car and eating it and thinking, this is like really unsatisfying. Like, this is pretty gross. I'm not enjoying it. So I got on my phone and I'm hammering away looking for recipes that would work for me that I would actually enjoy. And I found this website called autoimmune wellness dot com. And so I perused around on that website for a little while and I discovered something called the Autoimmune Protocol. And it's essentially an elimination diet, but it's a lot more structured than going and getting food sensitivity done, having this crazy piece of paper with a million things to eliminate and no guidance. It's very black and white. Like, this is stage 1, this is what you do. This is stage 2, this is what you do. And so I really like threw in the towel on everything that the naturopath had told me and decided to take up this other approach, which ended up working quite well for me.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 12:12
This is really interesting. And how long did this process take? And then what happened after you started the new protocol?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 12:19
It didn't take me too long in between getting those food sensitivity results, realizing this was crazy, doing more research, and then finding this other alternative solution. That wasn't a long period of time. But actually implementing this new protocol properly, so to speak, that took me a while because I did still have to change pretty much everything in my fridge and my pantry, and I wasn't well-versed in all of these alternative products at the time. I was already eating gluten-free, but I wasn't eating paleo, and this style of eating is, is a paleo diet. So I had to remove all of the grains, and I hadn't discovered what I now know about like cassava flour and tapioca starch and all these alternative ingredients that you can cook and bake with. So the first time I said, you know, I'm going cold turkey, I'm going to do the elimination phase as fast as possible, get it done in 30 days, and then start reintroducing the foods. But of course, because I wasn't prepared, I fell off the wagon. And I think that happened once or twice before I finally made it through the 30-day elimination phase. And then after that, things were a lot more smooth sailing. Like, it was a heavy learning curve, but once I was in the flow of it and I was no longer starving day to day, it was good.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 13:53
Good. So tell me about your physical health during this time, you know, and the symptoms, because obviously this is all about healing your thyroid and being able to keep your thyroid. That was— yes, you've said that was your goal. So how did all of this impact your symptoms and your general well-being?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 14:13
So when I was doing the strict autoimmune protocol, I felt way less inflammation in my thyroid gland. So I would have like a Raynaud's flare is, say you're outside walking in the rain, it's a cold, rainy day and your, your fingers go white. That's called a flare, right? That's the symptom. With the thyroid, it's a lot more subtle to know what are the symptoms, like brain fog. How do you really measure brain fog? And energy, like how are you really measuring energy? But one thing that I could really tell was whether I felt like I had a golf ball in my throat or not. And when I was eating that way, I did not feel like I had a golf ball in my throat. So that was a significant improvement. And now, like, I eat a much more flexible diet because I've done a lot of healing. And most of the time I do not feel like I have a golf ball in my throat. But if I go through a period of stress or I've had several nights with my kids waking me up, or as a woman, if I'm like with my cycle, I definitely still have times where I can feel discomfort in that area. But it's nowhere near what it was before I implemented all of these dietary changes.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 15:36
And that's good to hear. And how, how did it, how did that, all those changes impact, I guess, the, the food and, and the lifestyle that you had with the kids and your husband, you know, with the family? Was it a big change for them?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 15:52
So luckily my husband is super easygoing. He's not picky with food and he really values healthy eating. So that is one of the biggest obstacles that many other people have to overcome, is that they don't have a spouse that's on board. So I was really lucky with that, and my kids were young enough that I could introduce these things, like make pancakes with alternative flours, and they wouldn't give me pushback on it. So I think I caught it at an early enough stage that that part of it wasn't so hard for me. But I know that a lot of people do struggle with that. So there are all kinds of solutions such as like with autoimmune paleo, you can eat meat, you can eat fish, and you can eat a wide variety of vegetables. So when you're making meals, you would still make a grain for the rest of your family. And you just wouldn't have that portion on your plate. And if you were going to do something like a taco night, you could make your taco bowl and they could still have their taco shell with the cheese and the sour cream. So there are definitely meals that are versatile enough to work for everybody. So that's what my recommendation would be there. But I was just blessed in the sense that I didn't really have to do that.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 17:13
When you were going through those early stages, obviously the trial and error, you know, you tried things with the naturopathic, um, you know, protocol and then new one that you found. Were you on your own? As in, was it, were you the only one in your circle that had this condition and was going through it? Or did you reach out and find others that were also going through this?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 17:41
So I was on my own. I know that hypothyroidism runs in my family, and probably a lot of the women who do have this in my family do have Hashimoto's. They've just never been diagnosed, and so therefore they've never gone to do anything about it. But what I did was I loved what I was doing so much that I became certified to basically teach and coach this autoimmune protocol. And so when I did that, it opened me up to a community of hundreds of women who have had all kinds of journeys with autoimmune disease, used this protocol to heal themselves, and now they're out there spreading the word, helping empower other people to say, you're going to be told left, right, and center that there's nothing you can do, that you don't have control, and that this is the Band-Aid solution being offered to you. But if you never question it, then that's going to be your reality. So most of the women that I met in this community have had a level of healing that they, they want to express to the world. They want to say, look, I was here and I overcame it, and you can too. Like, let me help you, let me guide you. So I was just constantly uplifted and reminded of how possible it is to heal. And on that website I mentioned earlier, Autoimmune Wellness, there are success stories from people. They had a whole blog going for a while that was just success stories. So there was no way that my brain couldn't take in that evidence. And I think that's such an important part of anything that you want to change. You need to start building a case for it in your own mind. And so I just kept looking for the evidence of possibility.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 19:44
Sorry for the interruption. This is Ian Westmoreland, the founder of Katsuki Heroes, and thank you for listening to this story from one of our amazing heroes. Our mission is for these stories to is to provide hope and inspiration to people experiencing life challenges and to also educate the broader community on how best to provide support. If you would like to help us to continue to produce more hero stories and cover more adversity themes, we would welcome all donations. These can be made via our website kitsukiheroes.com.au. The donate function is at the bottom of the home page. We'd also welcome any feedback. You can email me direct using ian@kintsugiheroes.com.au. Now let's get back to the story. I love that. And the words that you're using, it was funny as you're speaking that I was reflecting that those, those wisdoms really can be applied to anything in life. Not just a health crisis. And it's so important, you know, for us to question things and figure out, you know, what— and take responsibility, because that's what you've done, right? You took responsibility for your health rather than listening to a doctor's diagnosis and just accepting the status quo. Oh well, I'll just get it taken out then, you know, or— and stay on drugs for the rest of my life, right?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 21:11
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then it comes down to what you value. And for me, long before I ever had a Hashimoto's diagnosis, I valued my health and I knew I would do whatever it took to preserve my health. And maybe that isn't for everybody. Like, I definitely know this as a coach when I have people come in for consultations and they've been referred to me, but they have no drive within themselves to make the changes. It's like they're showing up on somebody else's behalf because somebody told them to. So step one is really fostering that internal desire to make the changes.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 21:56
Have you seen people who've come to you or to, you know, the group, and then they just don't have that, and they, then they go back to the easy path or you know, what they think is the easy path because they don't want to make those changes themselves?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 22:13
I have, and I've seen people go all in and then self-sabotage in a sense. I mean, just like you said, with all different types of crises, there's a whole spectrum of people. There's the go-getters who are going to do whatever it takes. They show up, they're like, I'm in crisis. I have a diagnosis. I don't want surgery. I don't want immunosuppressants. Tell me what I have to do. I'm gonna do it. And then there's the people who really wanna do it, but the pressures around them are too strong. Social pressures, pressures from work, you name it. There's all these reasons and they haven't found the power within themselves to override that yet. But if they want to, they can. And then there's the people who just don't, don't want to make the change. Like, they don't value that over whatever the other indulgence is. And maybe they'll come around, maybe they won't. It's really to each their own. But for me, I speak to the people who want to make the change and they're, they're ready to do it, or they want to make the change and they do need a little bit of hand-holding just to get over the edge, and then they really take it and run with it.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 23:39
I love the way you describe the diff— where people— the different, uh, I guess, places that people are at, the different— if you categorize them a little bit. Yeah, the mindsets or the positions that they're in. Um, how many years have you been doing the protocol for now since— yeah, finding it?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 23:58
Yeah, so I started the protocol probably 4 years ago, but it is a protocol, so it's something that you follow. So there's 30 to 90 days of an elimination phase where you're removing the foods that are most likely negatively impacting your body. And you're actually in that elimination phase, you are actually adding in things that are really conducive to your health as well. So foods that you weren't used to eating before, you're bringing those in. And then after that 30 to 90 days when you're seeing your health change in a positive way and you know you would be able to tell a difference if you were to eat something and it would bother you. That's when you know you're ready to start bringing foods back in. So I mean, all in all, some people with introductions can take up to a year, you know, to, to really have a wide variety of food in their diet again. Not to say that the elimination phase is a small number of foods, it's just, it's small categories. It's like a wide range of fruits and vegetables, a wide range of animal products. But you're not eating the dairy, you're not eating eggs at the beginning, you're not even eating nuts and seeds. So all of those things get reintroduced. And now in my life, so what I've come up with are a couple of terms. I call them thresholds. Um, and so your thresholds are basically how much of a food and how often can I have something before it starts to negatively impact me. And the other concept is eating for quality of life. So even if something impacts you in a specific way, are you going to eat it or are you not going to eat it? You're at a wedding, you're at a birthday party. How do you make a decision about whether you're going to eat something or not? You ask yourself, is this going to contribute to my quality of life? And if the answer is yes, then you go for it. And if the answer is no, then that's a non-negotiable for you. And with autoimmune, it's often gluten for a lot of people is a non-negotiable. They just can't go there. But they might be able to have an ice cream, you know, a gluten-free ice cream cone a couple times a month without problems. And it's a very individualized thing. So when you go through this protocol, you basically come out at the end. So you can just put your name in front of it, like Whitney Copeland's perfect diet, and it's not going to be the same for you.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 26:38
What I love about that is it's honoring the individual in that we are all very unique. We all have different path challenges, and even if we have the same diagnosis, our bodies are different and what our individual limits are are different as well.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 26:55
Yeah, yeah.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 26:57
Exactly. How is life different now for you compared to back when you had the initial diagnosis?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 27:06
Well, a lot has changed for me because of this. So first of all, I think before I had a really hard time making requests, um, standing up for myself in certain situations, saying no to things. And so I really empowered myself to do that. And at the same time, because I became a certified coach in this autoimmune protocol, I started an online business. And that coupled with the health changes, like, just put me through this personal development, like, I don't even know what you would call it, vortex, like just constantly having to look at what's going on with me and sort it out, whatever that looks like. Um, and it's now brought me to a place where I'm very much interested in the spiritual aspect of it as well, because when you're on a personal development journey and you're dealing a lot with the mind, I feel like it's almost inevitable that you start running into the soul. And so that's how I'm different today. It's like I, I think completely differently than I did a few years ago. I, every situation in life I handle differently. My parenting is different because what I implemented in my health, I implemented in my business. Now I implement it in my parenting and in my relationships. And I don't love the term or that sentence, how you do one thing is how you do everything. I know it's so cliché. But I believe what you learn in one area can be applied to other areas of life.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 28:54
So true. It's so true. You know, we don't— life is a symbiotic collective of experiences, and we can't compartmentalize them. It's like the human body, right? You can't say that the hand is not connected to the other hand because the whole body is connected. Um, one thing actually does impact the other. And so how you approach things, like you've just explained, is, is impacted by the journey, the learnings that you have, and then what you can then take to the next thing, whether it's the parenting or business or relationships. It's a really positive outcome. It's a beautiful insight that you've, that you've had through this journey. Really lovely.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 29:41
Yeah, and I'm, I'm very, uh, grateful for it. And I think when I talked about the spiritual side of it, where I'm at now, it's like, thank you for this illness, it's taught me so much. I realize I have to use my voice. That's a big thing with thyroid, is using your voice, communicating, getting your message out. Thank you. And now I'm done with this. We can move on, right? Like, I've learned. I got the message. I've learned my lesson. Now let's let the rest of this healing take place and my thyroid can come back into complete balance now. So that's where I'm at now. Like, I haven't made it to the end of my journey with this, but I feel like it's within arm's reach.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 30:29
That's fantastic. So positive to hear. I love the connection to something more spiritual, the lesson, the journey, and just accepting and embracing it. And I've seen many people, no matter what they've gone through, when they've come on this show and they've talked about their journeys, a lot of them have had that, not only the acceptance and the realizations, but they've actually said, I was meant to go through this. Yeah, to help me then fulfill my purpose. It's actually part of my reason for being here. And I think when you get to that place, it's a really special— it's just really heartwarming, and it just feels like there's this alignment, you know, universally. The person can then start the next phase of their life at that point.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 31:23
Yeah, I like it because when you have this realization, there's really no confusion. There's really no going back. It's like, I've had this realization, I know what my work is, and now all I have to do is take steps in that direction. I don't have to be in search mode anymore of what to do. I just need to do it. Just start doing it.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 31:47
I love that. No longer in search mode. Yeah, exactly. You've arrived to where you need to be, and all because of this challenge, this illness that you've had. It's brought you to here. That's beautiful. What wonderful reflections. As we come to a close, you've given a lot of insights and also, I guess, advice in a way, but based on your story. But I'm wondering if there is someone that's listening listening to this story and they have perhaps a similar diagnosis, what would you like to say to them that might help them on their journey?
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 32:29
I think the number one thing is to listen to yourself because you're going to get opinions from so many other people and they're all going to conflict. And you're going to go online and you can find evidence to support any one of those conflicting things that you've heard. So the person who knows best is you, and anybody else in your space is simply an advisor, and you can take or leave what they have to say. And the second part of it is, if something doesn't feel good, don't do it. And the practical example of this, even with the autoimmune paleo diet, It's like, don't force yourself to eat foods that are disgusting, right? Like, I was eating that mushy sweet potato, like, spinach, no seasoning, in the car, and I was like, what am I doing? Like, I cannot go on in life eating like this. And so I found taco bowls and pancakes and all of these wonderful things that I looked forward to eating and truly were to this day, like, more satisfying than the old versions because the mental part of it is this tastes good, but it's also nourishing my body. So if you follow your intuition on what to do and your preferences on what you like and don't like, you're going to be much better off than I was at the beginning of my journey.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 34:07
Great advice. So, so important to listen to yourself and honor what's, what's, you know, coming up for you, for sure. Yeah. And you would know this. I mean, not only have you gone through it yourself, but you're helping others and, and coaching people in the similar situations. So you've got such vast experience with this, and I love the practical nature, but also the way that you embrace individuality and that we are all unique, which is really a, a really perfect place to be, especially when you're offering a protocol or talking about a protocol which one could see as a cookie cutter solution. And yet you're saying, but you've got to bring yourself to that and still be yourself. Yeah. And find the right path for you, which is perfect. I'm really happy for you, Whitney. I you know, hearing your journey. I know so many people go through health crises and struggle for so many years, and how lucky that you didn't have to go through that for a very long period of time. And, um, I'm really grateful for what you're doing and how you're helping people, and also for sharing your story today with me.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 35:23
Yeah, thank you. It's a pleasure. And like I said, I found my voice and showing up and speaking, whether it's about my journey or helping people, it really is a healing process for me. So I thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 35:43
You're very welcome, and I know that this is going to impact people who are listening and help inspire them. So much gratitude to you, and I wish you continued success on your journey now that you're living on purpose. So thank you very much, Whitney.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 36:00
Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 36:06
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes. Please like and share the show to your friends so we can get this out to even more people. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please reach out using the contact details below. And join us next week for our next hero's story. Until then, keep being you, and remember that we are all heroes in our own unique way.
Whitney Coupland (Guest) · 36:33
Only when it's broken, only when it's broken, when it hits you in the middle of the And the truth burns so bright. Only when it's broken. Only when it's broken. Take pride in those cries. It's only for tonight. And then you rise. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
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