Sierra Thompson Nordquist
M.S. Human Nutrition & Functional Medicine
Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS)
Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner
Mind Body Nutrition & Eating Psychology Coach
Clinical Herbalist
Hello my friend! Thank you for being here and congratulations for exploring how to improve your health, food & body. If you’re on this page, you are likely wondering about who I am and why I might be the right guide for you on this journey so I thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about who I am and why I am here.
A little about me:
For starters, my name is Sierra and I am a functionally-trained nutritionist, herbalist, and self-nourishment coach. I help guide my clients to embrace, elevate and empower their inner wisdom with functional mind body herbal nutrition. Often this includes releasing the stigmas of diet culture and limiting beliefs that keep them stuck in dysfunctional relationships with their health, food, and body. Through identifying bioindividual needs of each person, I help them to reconnect with their health, food, and body relationships so they can intuitively know what and how to eat with confidence, all while nourishing a holistic and healthy lifestyle that leaves them feeling vibrant in their body, mind and soul.
Unlike other one-size-fits-all diet and wellness programs, I take you on a journey of personal discovery about the foundational functions of your body, how to nourish your being within an intuitive & functional herbal nutrition framework, and how to cultivate a balanced and holistic lifestyle that embraces you as a whole human.
As you may have guessed, I am a lover of all things nourishment-related - especially if this includes eating tasty foods! I am an avid reader and book nerd who loves to get immersed in cookbooks, herbal nutritionals, and fantasy adventures! I love to engage my brain with puzzles and games, get my hands dirty in the garden or forest, move my body with hikes, yoga, and Pilates, and have quality time with my family, friends, and fur-babies.
Anyone who gets to know me knows that I am a perpetual educationist who isn’t satisfied if I’m not learning something new; as such I can often be found enjoying some new certification, training or educational program just because there’s always something else out there that I don’t know I don’t know!
I am a fierce competitor in any and all board, card, brain or puzzle games (Catan anyone?) and I’m hard-pressed to pass up an opportunity to have a fun game night with friends and family!
I especially love to express my creativity and personality through herbal and/or culinary alchemy, my wardrobe and household décor/design, and by creating something unique through crochet, paint, or wood crafting.
In my spare time, I can be found cooking up a culinary confection, creating herbal remedies, reading a good book, wild crafting in the woods, digging into the garden dirt or a new movie/TV series, laughing and having fun with friends and family, snuggling with my husband and kitties, and of course - eating!
My health journey:
I came to this work through personal experience. I grew up with horrible bouts of “digestive difficulties” (← read chronic nausea and diarrhea) due to unidentified food sensitivities and disordered eating tendencies. I never knew if or when I would get sick, which resulted in significant anxiety when eating out or socializing because I never wanted to be far from a bathroom *just in case* I had a negative reaction.
This malnourishment led to me developing debilitating menstrual cramps and PMS at the onset of puberty, along with Hypothyroidism (and subsequently Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis) when I was just 13 y/o. And as a result, I later developed Estrogen Dominance and Insulin Resistance on top of my chronic digestive issues, food sensitivities & disordered eating habits.
Whew… overwhelming, right?
I’ve always loved food and considered myself a foodie - kind of ironic considering that the after effects of my eating experiences had always been less-than-pleasant; yet I never thought of food as bad or evil. I was lucky to have parents and grandparents who always prioritized healthful food and eating as an enriching cultural experience; yet this framework still didn’t provide the understanding I was needing and seeking to overcome my health issues. Instead I shifted the blame for my health woes to myself and my body - my seeming inability to digest well, or menstruate well, or have energy, or feel motivated to go out and socialize with my family and friends. I blamed and shamed myself. I felt broken. For many years I tried to push my health concerns aside and just get on with living as best I could because I was just born this way.
it was time for a change:
I pursued a pre-med biology bachelor’s degree with the intention of going to medical school, but in my senior year I realized an M.D. degree wasn’t my path to take. By the time I finished college, I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired - and broken. I knew there must be answers to my health woes - and just because conventional medicine had failed me over and over again didn’t mean that what I had been experiencing nearly my entire life had to be my normal.
So I went searching for non-conventional answers… and lo and behold I found what I was looking for!
It is truly amazing to me how I had never before been taught the importance of nutrition as a foundation for healthful nourishment. Sure I had received the 1-2 hours (if that) of the government’s “food pyramid” recommendations during my grade school health education classes, but this certainly didn’t set me up well for understanding how food nourishes our bodies or what different foods and nutrients can do to support our health.
I’m a questioner by nature - always have been. I wanted to understand the foundational aspects and principles of why some people could tolerate certain foods versus others and why people develop health issues in the first place.
And I finally found the answers I was so desperately seeking with herbal mind body nutrition. I first began with a 3 year herbal apprenticeship at relatively the same time as my first nutritional therapy practitioner training - and these two educational programs changed my life and started me down a decade+ road of deep learning and self-discovery including an M.S. in Human Nutrition & Functional Medicine through the University of Western States, culminating in board-certification as a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS).
As I dove into my education and nourishment exploration, I began experiencing major breakthroughs in my understanding of functional herbal nutrition, mind body eating connections - and most importantly, in my health status. For the first time in my life, I began feeling GOOD - I had energy, I embraced my happy weight, I had better mental focus and clarity, I could eat WITHOUT getting sick or feeling anxious - in short, I finally had my life back!
the birth of a business:
Along the way of experiencing my personal improvements with my health, food, and body relationships, I finally knew that I wasn’t alone. I knew there must be other people out there seeking the same guidance and support to help them overcome their debilitating health woes, and now I knew that I could be that person - that guide and confidant that I so wish I had had - for them.
And so my functional mind body nutrition and self-nourishment counseling practice was born. Root Revival LLC (originally named Nutritive Roots) is my platform for supporting individuals and community groups on their journeys to sustainable and functional self-nourishment. My own journey has given me the perspective, education and empowerment to help others who are likely suffering in silence - just like I was.
As a woman with chronic health issues, I have known what it is like to be discounted, to have my symptoms brushed off and down-played as “all in my head” - I know what it feels like to have my voice be devalued and set aside for the “standardized” and “conventional” one-size-fits-all approaches that never seemed to fit me at all. And I would hazard a guess that maybe they haven’t fit you well either?
I say it’s time for a change. And that time is now.
My promise to you is that I will be a guiding voice for you while you navigate your own health, food, and body journey. Whether you simply enjoy my complimentary content, or opt to dive into my nourishment programs, I am here for you.
“We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.”
I wish you much health & happiness along your way.
Xo
Sierra
My Education & credentials:
In case you’re curious about my education and credentials, here is a good summary of some of the programs I have pursued so far!
Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS)
Certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP)
Intuitive Mind Body Nutrition & Eating Psychology Coach
Certified Bio-individual Nutrition Practitioner
Certified Autoimmune Paleo Coach
M.S. Human Nutrition & Functional Medicine (MS-HNFM)
B.S. Pre-Med Biology: Honors + Organic Chemistry Minor
Certified Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWP)
Licensed RESTART Program Instructor
Clinical Herbalist (CH)
“When in doubt, use nutrition first. ”
