Today we’d like to introduce you to Tasha Stevens.
Hi Tasha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It would be a lie to say that I fell into health and wellness because of my story and struggles alone. But I have always been interested in health. When I was nine years old I started my first workout program and got my hands on my first teen vogue. I was hooked. I wanted to know the “secret” to health and how I could look like the women in the magazines. And maybe it stemmed from the fact that at the age of nine I got my period, I was the same height that I am now as a grown adult. I felt uncomfortable in my body.
Everything started to take a turn when I was 14. After an appendectomy that turned resulted in sepsis. While I recovered, I was never the same. Every single thing I ate made me sick, I was exhausted beyond compare, I had terrible skin rashes and pain, my periods were so heavy I was bleeding through a super tampon every hour, and my cramps were debilitating.
But the worst part – everyone told me it was “normal”. Not one doctor could tell me why I felt this way. Most of the time I was dismissed, told I might be over-exaggerating it, and told to “come back if it got worse”. This of course lit a fire under me. I wanted answers because there had to be a solution.
I decided to get my degree in Clinical Nutrition, and for the first time in years, I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. When I was 19 I was diagnosed with two (2) autoimmune conditions – both of which could be supported 100% with nutrition. I thought “maybe I can figure this all out”.
Yet, by the time I was 23 my health took a turn for the worst. I gained 30lbs in a month, I was struggling with anxiety and panic attacks daily, I was so exhausted I was struggling to hold down my new job post-graduation, I had chronic stomach bloating and pain, my period symptoms were hitting me full force even though I was “on birth control”. I was miserable and uncomfortable in my body. And yet again, I was told that everything was “fine”. My bloodwork was “normal or within range” and that the symptoms that I was experiencing were “normal for women as we age”.
I felt like a fraud – for a woman who worked in nutrition and fitness, I sure didn’t look like it or feel like it. By this time I had tried nearly every single trendy diet under the sun. Keto, low-fat, FODMAPS, HIIT workouts only, low-calorie, no fruits, you name it, I did it. I was so afraid of what to eat and confused on what to do because nothing was working.
I remember telling my doctors that I felt my hormones were disrupted, that they needed to be checked and they nearly laughed. So I took matters into my own hands. I expanded my education into the integrative realm and started working closely under an Integrative Physician and RDN to better understand the hormonal implications on women’s health and how nutrition, fitness, gut health, stress management influence this.
Hormones control every single aspect of our health as women. We have a unique 28 day cycle where our hormone levels fluctuate daily and this directly influences metabolic rate, nutrient needs, workout intensities we can handle, productivity levels, social desire, sex drive, even the risk of developing certain health conditions such as autoimmunity.
Years of chronic stress triggered by my surgeries, dieting, and you know just life – triggered hormone disruption that led to the onset of an additional three (3) autoimmune conditions that doctors missed.
Fast forward 8 years – I have put all 5 of my autoimmune conditions into remission without medications, I am 100% anxiety medication free, I had my daughter naturally when they told me it would be impossible. Most importantly – I have coached over 2000 women across the world in accomplishing the same.
Symptoms are not normal, they are a sign that your body is asking for support. Symptoms happen because hormones are imbalanced, and hormones are imbalanced because systems are not getting the support they need to thrive. Our goal is to empower women to understand their bodies and balance their hormones through nutrition, strength training, and
root-cause healing—because when your hormones are happy, you are too.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. But a lot of amazing lessons were learned along the way. Symptoms are not normal, but we live in a society that has normalized symptoms as a part of the female experience. We are told from a very young age that we will have our periods once a month and we will feel awful. We will be moody, hormonal, suffer from cramps, struggle with bloating, and that we better just “get used to it” and “grin and bear it”. And this theory has directly manifested into our health care system as well.
A recent study found that 72% of women have reported experiencing medical gaslighting. This includes being ignored, dismissed, stereotyped, blamed, or told their physical symptoms were caused by psychological issues.
Throughout my journey I was brushed aside and told everything looked “fine”. It felt discouraging and I started to believe a little that maybe I was crazy? Maybe it was all in my head. But it wasn’t.
The other challenge is recognizing that just because your labwork is “normal” it does not mean it is optimal for you. Lab work is interpreted based on clinical reference ranges which are used to determine the need for pharmaceutical intervention. Not for optimal health. What feels good for your body might vary greatly because each person is unique. This is what we call bioindividuality – every single person is different and responds differently due to genetics, environment, lifestyle, cultural differences, preferences and more. So we cannot take things at face value.
Your symptoms mean something. Your symptoms are immediate biofeedback and can be used to understand what is happening in real time with your body. In conjunction with looking at in-depth lab work assessed for optimal health is how I went from frustrated and lost to having a plan. Recognizing this gap in our health system and learning to be your own advocate is key – and this is now what I support my clients in.
The final challenge – well it was me. I had to unlearn years of diet culture marketing and toxic wellness messaging. I spent my entire adolescence dieting and trying workout programs to chase a particular aesthetic. I didn’t realize the damage that it was causing and how much I was harming my body. Learning to eat and move in a way without restriction that focused on nourishing in a way that made my soul feel good – well that was life changing.
We’ve been impressed with Happy Hormone Health , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Happy Hormone Health, our mission is to help women balance their hormones through nutrition, strength training, and root-cause healing—because when your hormones are happy, you are too.
Hormones control every single aspect of our health as women and we have a unique 28-day cycle that influences our mood, energy, productivity levels, workout capacities, even social desires. Which means we need to adapt how we nourish our bodies, move our bodies, rest our bodies, and even show up in our day to day lives. But when we live in misalignment with this – our systems suffer and as a result, we suffer with debilitating symptoms.
As an Integrative Clinical Nutritionist and alongside a team of experts including Exercise Physiologists and RDNs, we teach women how to live in alignment with their unique rhythm and provide tailored nutrition programs, strength programs, and lifestyle coaching to help women live a life free of symptoms.
We have coached over 2500 women worldwide, which we are beyond grateful for. Our program is different and so effective because it is science-backed and because we firmly believe that each woman needs a different approach. We are all unique and how we engage in health and wellness needs to work for your systems and your real life in order for it to work.
So every single program we offer, from our self-paced programs to our 1-on-1 programs includes adaptations for the female hormone cycle, specific hormone imbalances, medical conditions, dietary needs, and more. By taking a comprehensive approach to health and adapting to our hormonal needs, powerful changes happen.
I have helped 100s of women put their autoimmunity into remission without medications. My clients have gotten pregnant naturally after multiple failed rounds of IVF, women have been able to come off antidepressants and anxiety medications, clients have lost weight and gained confidence, or transitioned into menopause symptom-free. It’s a beautiful thing to see women thrive at every stage of their hormonal journey and to see the confidence that they gain when they finally feel heard and in control of their health.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My husband, Curtis Stevens, deserves big kudos as well. He is an Exercise Physiologist, B.S, Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and CFO of our Company. Not only is he truly an expert when it comes to using strength training to help support recovery, hormone balance, and metabolic efficiency – he was the biggest cheerleader I had when trying to figure out what I was struggling with. We met at a gym working together (of course!) and when we got together, I was at my sickest. I was afraid to workout, worried it would fry my already shot adrenals, but he opened my eyes to the powerful role that strength training has in stress resiliency, estrogen metabolism, insulin function, and reducing autoimmune flares. He was the one who mapped out the specific strength adaptations and complex progressive overloads for the female hormone cycle. His system has not only changed my life and self-confidence, but he has supported thousands of women worldwide.
Pricing:
- ALL28 Signature 12 Week Hormone Aligned Nutrition + Strength Program $128
- Premium 1-1 Hormone Coaching $579
Contact Info:
- Website: https://happyhormonehealthllc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tashalynn_stevens/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tasha.kubek
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashalynnstevens
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tashalynn_stevens
- Other: https://happyhormonehealthllc.com/free-assessment/
