Why So Many Women Don’t Feel Their Best (And What No One's Telling You): Anne Gaarenstroom on Lyme Disease, Hidden Toxins, and Taking Back Your Health
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Welcome!
What if the illness that seemed to take everything was actually the thing calling you into the life you were meant to live?
In this episode of Dim to Daring, I sit down with Anne Heffley Gaarenstroom — certified holistic health coach and founder of Live Your Great Life — whose story is one of the most powerful I've featured on this show. Anne is married and has four sons, a full life, and a go-go-go personality that never slowed down... until her body made her stop completely.
In 2016, she woke up to excruciating pain that would sometimes require her to be in a wheelchair and also bedridden for months — all while doctors struggled to find answers. The culprit turned out to be Lyme disease, a diagnosis that took over a year to arrive and nearly wasn't caught at all. But instead of letting it break her, Anne let it call her forward.
What she discovered on the other side — about food, genetics, toxins, the gut-brain connection, and the power of belief — became the foundation of her life's work.
Today, she helps women get to the root cause of what's holding back their health and lives.
This is a conversation about what it really means to listen to your body, trust your intuition, and take back your health — one step at a time.
In This Episode, You'll Discover:
What it was like waking up to debilitating pain with no answers — and how Ann's gut intuition led her to the right diagnosis when doctors couldn't
Why the medical system misses the mark on so many chronic illnesses — and what functional medicine does differently
How Lyme disease forced a lifelong "go girl" to finally sit down, be still, and learn to meditate
The gut-brain connection explained — and why glyphosate may be the single biggest driver of today's chronic illness epidemic
What Anne’s quote "genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger" principle means for your health — and why genetic testing matters
Why 90% of people are nutrient deficient — and what's really behind it
How to make clean eating doable without perfection, overwhelm, or breaking the bank
The difference between USDA Organic and Non-GMO — and why it matters more than you think
The Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen: a simple tool that changes how you shop
Ann's favorite books, a must-watch film, and her most daring step yet
✨ If you've ever ignored a whisper from your body until it became a roar — this episode will show you how to start listening before it comes to that.
And the first step is simpler than you think.
Timestamps:
[00:00] – Teaser: pain so severe a bedsheet was unbearable — and a year-long search for answers
[01:03] – Introducing Anne Heffley Gaarenstroom: holistic health coach and founder of Live Your Great Life
[01:55] – That morning in 2016: wrist pain, a tick bite no one caught, and what finally led to a diagnosis
[05:11] – Why Lyme disease gets missed — and how listening to gut intuition changed everything
[07:10] – The sympathetic vs. parasympathetic nervous system: why "go girls" are at risk
[09:11] – Learning to meditate for the first time — and how Deepak Chopra and Oprah helped Anne heal
[10:25] – Life during illness: married, four boys, two in college, two seniors in high school, and losing her mom
[17:03] – When healing becomes a calling: how Anne stepped into health coaching
[19:12] – Moms Across America, glyphosate, and the shocking testing data on our food supply
[23:00] – The history of Roundup: from pipe cleaner to the herbicide on your plate
[26:12] – The gut-brain connection explained — and why leaky gut matters
[27:08] – USDA Organic vs. Non-GMO: a distinction that changes how you shop
[33:49] – Food as information: what women most need to understand about what they put on their tables
[38:00] – Making meaningful change without perfection or overwhelm — practical tips that stick
[44:57] – Genetic testing and the "dreaded gene": what Anne's results revealed about her Lyme diagnosis
[49:35] – Genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger — and why most cancers are environmental
[53:58] – Why 90% of people are nutrient deficient — and the real reason behind it
[57:30] – The Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen: a simple tool from environmentalworkinggroup.org
[01:00:35] – Common Ground and Ground Swell: must-watch films on regenerative farming
[01:02:38] – Book recommendations: Biology of Belief, Unstoppable, Good Energy, and It's Never Too Late to Begin Again
[01:06:30] – The biggest mindset shift needed before real healing can begin
[01:07:05] – Where to find Anne and connect with her work
[01:07:57] – Anne's most daring step: hiking Angels Landing at Zion — and proving her boys wrong
Key Points:
When the Body Sends an SOS
Anne's story of waking up in severe, migratory pain — and how trusting her gut instinct over a year of misdiagnosis led her to the right answer
What Functional Medicine Does Differently
Why today's conventional medicine treats symptoms instead of root causes — and how a functional medicine doctor changes the equation
Glyphosate: The Hidden Driver
How Roundup's active ingredient disrupts the gut, chelates essential minerals, and may be the most widespread toxin affecting our health today — and what you can do about it
Genes Load the Gun, Environment Pulls the Trigger
What genetic SNPs are, why the MTHFR gene matters, and how knowing your genetic blueprint empowers you to get ahead of what might otherwise take you down
The Nutrient Deficiency Epidemic
Why our food is no longer nutrient-dense, what most people are running low on (magnesium, Vitamin D, B vitamins), and why real, whole food is still the best solution
Clean Eating Without Overwhelm
Practical, grace-filled advice for making better choices — from freezer staples to the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen — that doesn't require perfection
The Mindset Shift That Makes Healing Possible
Stop outsourcing your health to outside sources. Start reflecting, educating yourself, and trusting that your body — and your choices — have more power than you think.
Episode Summary:
Anne Heffley Gaarenstroom had always been a "go girl." Married, four kids, a full life, horses, and a drive that never stopped. Then in 2016, she woke up and couldn't move her wrist.
What followed was more than a year of migrating pain, doctor visits without answers, time in a wheelchair, and a reality that forced her completely still. The diagnosis — Lyme disease — finally came not through the conventional medical system, but through Anne's own relentless gut intuition and her willingness to push past the standard narrative.
But what she discovered during that period of forced stillness changed her life. She learned to meditate for the first time. She discovered The Biology of Belief and the science of the mind-body connection. She began to understand that what we eat, what we believe, and what we're exposed to are not separate from our health — they are our health.
In this episode, Anne shares:
How Lyme disease cracked open a new path — and why she believes something else would have taken her down eventually if she hadn't learned to slow down
What glyphosate (the herbicide in Roundup) is doing to our gut, our nutrients, and our chronic illness rates
Why genetic testing gave her answers that years of doctor visits couldn't — and how it can do the same for others
The simple, accessible steps she gives clients who are overwhelmed and don't know where to start
And the hike at Zion National Park that reminded her — and her four skeptical sons — exactly who she is
Today, Anne works one-on-one with clients as a holistic health coach, hosts speaking events and advocacy work through Moms Across America, and is building out resources to help women educate themselves and take charge of their health — one empowered choice at a time.
If something in your body or your life has been quietly telling you something is off, this episode will show you how to start listening.
Links & Resources:
Anne’s Recommendations:
BOOKS:
The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton — the science of how our mind's beliefs affect our body at a cellular level
Unstoppable by Zen Honeycutt — a deep dive into what's in our food supply and what we can do about it
Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means — all about metabolic and cellular health as the root of chronic disease
It's Never Too Late to Begin Again by Julia Cameron — discovering creativity and meaning at midlife and beyond (and at every age)
FILMS:
Common Ground — available on Amazon; an eye-opening look at how our food is grown commercially and what regenerative farming can change.
The follow-up film, Ground Swell, is now also available and explores how regenerative farming can heal the environment.
THE CLEAN 15 & DIRTY DOZEN:
Visit the environmental working group at EWG.org every year for the updated list of the 15 cleanest and 12 most pesticide-laden produce items. Print it and keep it in your bag when you shop.
MOMS ACROSS AMERICA:
Visit momsacrossamerica.org for testing data on fast food, school lunches, military food, baby formula, and more — plus ways to get involved. You don't have to be a mom.
CONNECT WITH ANNE:
Website: liveyourgreat.life
Instagram: @anneheffleygaarenstroom
Facebook: Live Your Great Life
CONNECT WITH WENDY:
Website: WendyRimmel.com
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Remember:
You have spent years pushing through, white-knuckling it, and trusting everyone else to have the answers.
But Anne's story is proof that the most powerful thing you can do is turn inward — listen to your body, educate yourself, and trust that you have more agency over your health than you've ever been told.
Your body is always talking.
The question is whether you're ready to listen.
Stop waiting for someone else to fix it.
Start showing up for yourself — right where you are today.
Because that's what it means to go from Dim to Daring. 👠