SHANNON SHIELDS |
Health has been part of my story for as long as I can remember. At sixteen, I vowed to eat healthy after watching my dad struggle with high cholesterol and seeing both of my parents’ health decline due to lifestyle choices.
For 29 years, I ate healthy, believing I was doing everything “right.” When my daughters were born, I filled our home with organic foods and made their baby food from scratch. I cooked often and avoided what I thought were harmful ingredients. I truly believed I was raising my family in the healthiest way possible.
But behind the scenes, I was struggling. Throughout my 20s and 30s, I battled ongoing gut issues, frequent illness, and low energy. Nothing major — but something was always off.
Then, in 2013, everything changed. While training for a half marathon, I collapsed — completely unable to move. After endless tests and specialist visits, I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and told I might have the chronic form, CIDP. I was placed on IVIG therapy for a year.
Deep down, I knew this wasn’t my real diagnosis. It felt like medicine needed to name something so they could treat it.
When I returned to work, I had no energy and a growing list of symptoms. Then came heart palpitations, an AFib diagnosis, and the suggestion of lifelong medication. Still, no one was asking why this was happening. No one looked deeper into my hormones, my inflammation, or the underlying imbalances that connected all these symptoms.
So, I started asking for myself.
With the help of a holistic practitioner, I began eating differently — reintroducing high-quality protein and moving toward an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet. Slowly, my body began to heal. I realized I wasn’t just “unlucky” — I was inflamed, depleted, and disconnected from what my body truly needed.
In 2020, when the world felt unwell, fear led me to dig even deeper. I started working with an integrative doctor who ran extensive testing and confirmed what I had suspected all along: I didn’t have GBS.
I was navigating perimenopause with hormones that were completely out of balance. No one had ever told me how profoundly this stage of life could affect everything — my sleep, mood, energy, digestion, and heart rhythm.
Once I began supporting my body the right way — through food, daily habits, stress management, and self understanding — everything changed.
I went over ten years without getting sick. My energy, mood, and focus returned. My immune system was strong. My foundation was finally solid.
That experience changed the course of my life.
I realized that what so many women call “normal” in midlife — exhaustion, brain fog, mood swings, weight gain, poor sleep — doesn’t have to be our reality. Normal isn’t optimal.
I became a health coach because I don’t want women to go through this phase of life confused, dismissed, or unsupported the way I was. I want them to understand their bodies, feel empowered by science (not overwhelmed by it), and learn how to make small daily choices that restore balance and vitality.
While nutrition is a passion of mine, coaching is where the transformation truly happens. Because lasting change doesn’t come from information alone — it comes from awareness, mindset, and action.
Health isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning to listen, respond, and trust the signals your body sends you.
This is what I teach now — how to reconnect with your body’s wisdom, create sustainable systems for health, and feel grounded, energized, and clear through every season of life.
Ignited by my lived experience, I passionately offer tools that blend science, education and behavioral change to create a holistic, transformative, curated plan.
Knowing can be an instrumental compass. Coupled with the right action, it’s a beautiful resource.
Your body has a story. Let’s listen together.
With love,
ShannonLIFE CHANGES. DO IT WELL.
CHANGE TOGETHER
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SHANNON SHIELDS | THE CHANGE COACH
I am a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach with a background in education and advanced training in functional nutrition and lifestyle medicine. I specialize in turning health data into simple, actionable steps that help clients boost energy, improve metabolic health, and build resilience — with a transformative approach that is compassionate and detailed, ensuring you are the vital leader in this journey of change.
CERTIFICATIONS |
NBC-HWC™ — NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH
AADP BOARD CERTIFICATION — AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF DRUGLESS PRACTITIONERS™
NUTRITIOUS LIFE MASTER CERTIFIED NUTRITION AND WELLNESS COACH
HORMONE HEALTH CERTIFICATION — INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION™
HEALTH COACH CERTIFICATION — MINDBODYGREEN™
FUNCTIONAL NUTRITION EXPERT CERTIFICATE — MINDBODYGREEN™
MINDFUL SCHOOLS™ EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION
BACHELOR OF ARTS, ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
MASTER OF ARTS, EDUCATION, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY
EDUCATION
MAKING LIFE FLOW