New Leaf Holistic Health with Julie Six

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New Leaf Holistic Health with Julie Six

Resolving metabolic chaos using Functional Lab Testing and CGMs to restore your health. Eating for nourishment is in your control but you may need to learn HOW.

My mission is to help people cultivate physical and mental resilience through the wisdom of nutrition and the art of counseling. My functional nutrition education includes in-depth knowledge of the full-body systems and how your body processes food and other inputs that impact your overall health. The biggest misconception about nutrition is often that it is just about what to eat and what not to

eat. While it may include that, on a much deeper level it is about optimizing the function of your body's organs and every cell in your body. Food, intentional movement, sleep, rest, play, connection, as well as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, and enzymes all play key roles in feeling one’s best. I will apply the "art and science" of nutrition and will customize diet and lifestyle factors suitable for your individual needs and priorities. Even though we are living in the “age of wellness”, most people will admit there’s a disconnect between what we know and what we are doing. Confusing external messages from the food and diet industry, overwhelming on-line options, and decision fatigue leave us feeling empty, depleted, and defeated. You are not meant to feel weighed down, exhausted, hurried, harried, stressed, groggy, cranky, bloated, depleted, depressed, or like you are on the hot-mess express. You need and deserve answers as to why you are feeling the way you do and what you can do to course-correct and start feeling like YOU again. When it comes to your health, having an advocate on your side offering education, empathy, gentle leadership, and solutions you can trust is often the difference between success or being stuck, hitting a plateau or making progress, digressing into more and more dis-ease or learning tips and tools for taking back your health while having some fun and making your body functional again. I am committed to working with those who want to learn the hope they can have when their health is back in their hands. They are ready to do the work, while receiving individualized support on their wellness journey. If you have been looking for real solutions to the root of your health issues and are ready, with courage and commitment to change, you’ve come to the right place! I would be delighted and honored to help. VISIT: https://www.newleafnutrition.net/ to get started!

08/15/2026

💉 Being offered a GLP-1 medication can bring up more emotion than many women expect.

Even when a provider is offering it as one reasonable medical option, a woman may quietly wonder:

Does she think I’ve failed?
Is my weight the only problem?
What happens if this doesn’t feel right for me—at least not now?

For many of us, asking questions in a medical appointment does not come naturally. We have been conditioned to be agreeable, respectful, and “good girls.” We may worry that our hesitation will sound ungrateful or difficult.

But self-care includes having enough information, autonomy, and support to participate fully in decisions about your own care.

Please hear this: being offered a GLP-1 does not mean your provider sees you as lazy, hopeless, or failing! 🎯

AND it does not mean you have to make an immediate decision. You are allowed to pause.

You are allowed to ask why it is being recommended, what outcomes your provider hopes to improve, what will be monitored, and what other options may be available.

You are allowed to consider whether the recommendation fits your current capacity, values, goals, and the body story you want for yourself -- long term! 🗝️

And you are allowed to say:
Yes.
No.
I need more information.
I'd like 3-months to try something else.

I value partnership with PCPs and other members of a woman’s healthcare team. The prescriber brings medical expertise in diagnosis, medication appropriateness, contraindications, dosing, and monitoring.

I help her understand the whole-body terrain surrounding the recommendation: her nutrition, metabolic patterns, digestion, hormones, strength, stress, and lived experience—so she can return to that conversation feeling clearer and better prepared.

Collaboration does not take authority away from the woman nor the doctor. 🎯

💖 It helps surround her with better care.

A medication offer is an option, not a judgment, an identity, or a measure of your worth.

📍Save post!

08/13/2026

⚖️ If your weight gain feels random, persistent, or resistant, there is often more to the story than calories alone.

And that story matters.

Two women can gain the same amount of weight and get there through completely different pathways.

👉 For one, chronic stress and elevated cortisol may be driving more abdominal weight gain, restless sleep, and stronger cravings.

👉 For another, shifting estrogen and progesterone patterns may cause bloating and be changing where weight is stored and how her body responds.

👉 For another, low thyroid function may be slowing energy production and leaving her feeling cold, heavy, or depleted.

👉 And another, insulin resistance may be making it harder for glucose to move into the cells efficiently.

And some women experience more than one pattern!

That is why I do not want women reducing their entire experience to: “I'm eating too much. I have no discipline. Maybe I just need a GLP-1.”

A GLP-1 receptor agonist medication may be a helpful tool for some women. But it cannot tell us what her body may be adapting to or what support she needs now and in the long-run.

One woman may need to eat less. Another may need to eat the same amount, but with more protein, fiber, and nutrient-dense foods. Another - after years of restriction, overexercise, and undernourishment - may actually need to eat more! 🎯

We never want to push every body into the same solution.

The goal is to understand a woman’s unique body story, remove shame, and look at the hormonal, metabolic, emotional, and lifestyle patterns beneath the weight.

✨ This carousel breaks down four common patterns I see in practice: cortisol-driven weight gain, estrogen imbalance, low thyroid function, and insulin resistance.

Which one caught your attention?

That's your body is communicating, friend. Are you listening closely enough to understand what it may need next?

📍Save this post as a reminder: weight is a clue, never the whole story.

08/11/2026

Eating at regular intervals may sound simple, but for many women, it can be one of the most supportive things they do for their nervous system, blood sugar, and hormone health.

The body does not only respond to what we eat. It also responds to when nourishment arrives and whether the day feels predictable enough to relax out of emergency mode.

When meals are skipped, delayed too long, or squeezed around stress, the body may receive the message that resources are inconsistent. Over time, that can contribute to:

⚠️ blood sugar swings
⚠️ stronger cravings later in the day
⚠️ stress-hormone output
⚠️ energy crashes
⚠️ more chaotic hunger and fullness cues

This is one reason I often encourage women to think about food not only as fuel, but also as information.

Regular, nourishing meals can become one of the ways we communicate:

You are safe.
Support is here.
You do not have to stay in survival mode.

And yes, this absolutely connects and is critical to the GLP-1 conversation too.

Whether a woman is considering a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication, already taking one, or simply trying to support her metabolism more naturally, the body still needs rhythms that support safety, steadiness, and nourishment.

The goal isn’t always to eat less. It’s to help the body feel safe enough to digest, absorb, regulate, and communicate what it needs. 🎯

08/09/2026

Many women are now being offered GLP-1 receptor agonist medications. But beneath the surface their stories are very different.

Imagine three women:

One is struggling with emotional eating after a stressful season. She reaches for comfort, then restricts out of guilt, while her nourishment and daily rhythms quietly unravel.

Another has worked hard to be metabolically healthy but is discouraged by perimenopause weight gain. After years of dieting and overexercising, her deeper need may be nervous-system support—helping her body experience greater safety and spend more time in rest, digest, and repair.

A third has carried extra weight since college, has a strong family history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, aching knees, and very little space left for self-care.

All three may be offered the same medication. But the same recommendation may mean something very different for each woman.

For one, appetite suppression may not address the emotional need beneath the eating.

For another, asking the body to become smaller without considering what it may be protecting against could pose another danger signal.

For the third, a GLP-1 may be a helpful tool alongside whole-person support for nourishment, strength, sleep, stress, and metabolic health.

This is not me saying that medication is good or bad.

It is about recognizing that weight alone does not tell the whole story. 🎯

And the one medication does not serve every woman in the same way.

A woman’s history, metabolism, life stage, stress, fears, nourishment, strength, values, and capacity all deserve a place in the conversation.

That is why I believe women deserve more than one question:
“Would you like help losing weight?”

They deserve to be asked:
“What are you experiencing, what are you hoping for, and what kind of care will support your whole health from here?”

Read the full article, **The GLP-1 Conversation Women Deserve to Have**, through the link in my bio. 💚

08/07/2026

GLP-1 receptor agonist medications—often shortened to “GLP-1s”—are receiving plenty of attention right now.

A quick clarification: GLP-1 itself is a hormone your body naturally produces. In this post, when I say “GLP-1s,” I’m referring to the medications designed to activate that receptor.

We’re hearing a lot about what these medications may do:
Help reduce food noise.
Support blood sugar regulation.
Help the number on the scale move.

But I keep wondering: Who is missing from the conversation?

Too often, it is the whole woman.

Not just her weight, waistline, appetite, or latest lab results—but her body-story, stress, relationships, values, past dieting, self-respect, and the season of life she is trying to navigate.

One woman may be eating for comfort during an overwhelming season and then under-eating out of guilt.

Another with a long history of dieting may be metabolically healthy now but discouraged by perimenopause weight gain.

Another may have long-standing weight concerns, with a family history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and little space left for self-care.

All three may be offered the same medication. But they have not arrived there through the same story. And they can't possibly need the same plan.

A GLP-1 receptor agonist may be a genuinely valuable tool for some women. This is not me dismissing a medication or questioning the intentions of prescribing providers.

It is about making sure the woman does not disappear behind the recommendation.

Whole-person care considers much more than just weight. She is not simply a body to make smaller or a set of numbers to improve! 🎯

She deserves care that meets her where she is, helps her understand what her body may be responding to, and gives her room to choose a path that supports both her health and her humanity. 💖

That is what I explore more deeply in my new blog: "The GLP-1 Conversation Women Deserve to Have."

✅ Read the full blog. Link in my bio. 💚

08/05/2026

When most people hear “GLP-1,” they immediately think of medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound.

But GLP-1 is also part of the body’s own metabolic communication system.

It is a hormone released primarily in the gut after eating, where it helps coordinate appetite, fullness, blood sugar regulation, insulin release, and the pace at which food moves through the stomach.

Prescription medications amplify some of these effects far more strongly and for much longer than our natural GLP-1 does.

That matters, but it's not the whole story.

Because while medication may be a helpful tool for some women, the conversation should not stop simply at a suppressed appetite or pounds lost.

I also want to understand the larger environment surrounding her metabolic health:

• Is she eating enough protein and nutrient-dense food?
• Is she maintaining muscle and strength?
• How are her digestion and elimination functioning?
• What do her glucose, insulin, thyroid, inflammation, and nutrient patterns reveal?
• How are sleep, stress, hormones, and years of dieting affecting her signals?
• What support will she need if her appetite changes significantly?

This is not about insisting that women should correct every underlying factor before considering medication.

And it is not about pretending that food or lifestyle practices can reproduce the effects of a prescription GLP-1.

It is about widening the conversation.

Because whether a woman chooses medication or not, her whole metabolic system still deserves care.

On Thursday, I’ll be sharing "The GLP-1 Conversation Women Deserve to Have" —a thoughtful look at GLP-1 medications, the growing interest in microdosing, and the questions I believe belong in an informed decision.

Watch for it in your inbox. 💌

If you're not yet on the list, follow the link to sign up for New Leaf Gold Nuggets Newsletters. 💚🌱💛

08/03/2026

💉 Microdosing GLP-1s is suddenly everywhere.

For some women, it sounds like a gentler, more appealing option. A smaller dose. Fewer side effects. Just enough support to help the body finally respond.

And I can understand the curiosity. But before we reduce the conversation to just the dose, I think it would be wise to widen our lens.

Because the question is not only: “Could this help me lose weight?”

It, importantly, is also: “What is happening underneath the weight resistance and what support will my body need if I choose this tool?”

A woman may be navigating blood sugar instability, insulin resistance, hormone changes, loss of muscle, chronic stress, poor sleep, digestive dysfunction, inflammation, nutrient gaps, or years of dieting that have disrupted her hunger and fullness signals and her trust in herself.

That does not mean a prescription GLP-1 is wrong for her. Nor does it mean she should have to “fix everything naturally” before she is allowed to consider medication.

It means she deserves a more thoughtful, whole-body conversation. One that considers:
• whether the medication is medically appropriate for her
• whether her foundations are strong enough to support it
• how she will protect nutrition, muscle, digestion, and energy
• what should be monitored along the way
• and how her care team can work together rather than in separate silos

My role is not to talk women into—or out of—GLP-1s.

It is to help them understand the metabolic, nutritional, digestive, and lifestyle patterns surrounding the decision so they can ask better questions, feel more informed, and receive the support they need alongside their prescribing provider.

Sure, a smaller dose may be part of the conversation. But it is not the whole conversation. 🎯

📩 I’ll be sharing more in my New Leaf Gold Nuggets Newsletter this Thursday titled: "The GLP-1 Conversation Women Deserve to Have."

🔗✅ Follow the link to sign up & check your inbox/promotions folder.

07/28/2026

🍃 What happens in your gut doesn't stay in your gut.

Your digestive system is constantly communicating with your immune system, your brain, and even your nervous system.

So when your gut is struggling, the symptoms don't always look digestive. They might show up as:

✨ Brain fog
✨ Fatigue
✨ Anxiety or irritability
✨ Headaches
✨ Skin flare-ups
✨ Food sensitivities or increased immune reactivity

That's because these systems are deeply connected.

When the gut lining becomes irritated or the microbiome is out of balance, the immune system responds. Inflammatory signals can influence the brain, histamine levels may rise, and the nervous system can become more reactive. What feels like a collection of unrelated symptoms may actually be part of the same story.

💚 This is why I'm always looking for connections, not just symptoms.

Rather than asking, "How do we get rid of the headache?" or "What can we do for the bloating?" I ask:

What system is asking for support?

Sometimes the answer starts in the gut. Sometimes it doesn't.

The goal isn't to guess.

It's to understand what's driving your symptoms so we can create a plan that makes sense for your body.

That's how I approach functional nutrition: helping women connect the dots, understand their bodies, and take the next step with confidence. 🤓💕

07/23/2026

This is what I've been bringing to the beach; it travels well, keeps in the cooler, and helps me feel steady for hours!

One of the things I love most about grain bowls is that they solve a real-life problem: you want something quick, balanced, and satisfying, but you don't want to follow a recipe. Once you understand the formula, you can build one with almost anything you have on hand.

Here's how each layer works.

🥣 Start with a base of grain and greens.
A scoop of quinoa, farro, or brown rice with a handful of spinach or kale adds fiber, nutrients, and volume while keeping the meal balanced.

💪 Anchor it with 25–30 grams of protein.
This is the layer that does the heaviest lifting. Leftover chicken, canned salmon, eggs, tofu, or even crispy chickpeas help slow how quickly blood sugar rises after a meal, supporting steadier energy and helping you stay satisfied longer.

🥕 Add vegetables with contrast.
Pair something crisp like cucumber, cabbage, or shredded carrots with something roasted like sweet potato, zucchini, or broccoli. Textural variety makes every bite more enjoyable.

🥑 Include a healthy fat.
Avocado, hummus, olives, toasted nuts, or seeds add richness while helping the meal feel satisfying for hours.

🍋 Finish with a flavorful sauce.
Tahini whisked with lemon, pesto thinned with a little water, or a simple miso vinaigrette can completely change the personality of the bowl.

TIP: Keep cooked grains and one or two proteins in the fridge, and a nourishing meal is only a few minutes away.

💚 One thing I've learned over the years is that eating well doesn't have to be complicated. So I don't teach recipes. I teach principles.

Most women I work with don't need an entirely new way of eating. They simply need a few things done differently. Once you understand the building blocks of a balanced meal, you can stop relying on recipes and start putting together meals that nourish your body with confidence. 🌟

07/21/2026

🌿 Every practice has a philosophy.

Some are built around settling symptoms, rebuilding resilience, or optimizing function.

Mine includes all this AND it's also built around really understanding the person behind the symptoms.

After years of working with women who felt overwhelmed or confused by their health, I noticed something they all had in common.

They didn't need more information. They needed someone to help them MAKE SENSE of what their body was trying to communicate.

That's why everything I do comes back to three simple values:
Nourish. Nurture. Connect.

Not because they're trendy wellness words. But because I've watched what happens when they're missing.

⚠️ When the body isn't nourished, it slowly loses the resources it needs to repair.

⚠️ When we stop nurturing ourselves, stress quietly becomes our normal.

⚠️ And when we don't look for the connections between symptoms, we end up chasing one problem after another instead of understanding the whole story.

My hope is that every woman who finds New Leaf begins to experience something different! 💚

Not another list of things she "should" be doing. But personalized understanding of her own body and its needs. Because this understanding that is unique to you creates hope. And hope is the fuel that makes change possible! ✨

🎯 Your body is communicating. It's adapting, protecting, and sending the SOS. Symptoms should NOT be silenced! They need to be investigated.

So much more is possible when we reframe the shame-filled question, "What's wrong with me?" to a curious, self-compassionate, "What is my body trying to tell me?"

That's a much wiser and gentler place to begin. 💖

🙋‍♀️ Hi, I'm Julie, a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. I help women whose bodies feel stuck, reactive, and depleted understand why their system is overwhelmed—and gently guide it back toward stability so metabolism, gut health, hormones, and energy can come back online again. 💚

Address

Lake Ann, MI
49650

Website

http://www.newleafhh.com/

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