My nutrition journey started around 20 years ago with sports nutrition. Back then, I didn’t have the resources to educate myself properly, so I often relied on marketing claims, advice from my personal trainer, and common ideas like "salads and smoothies are healthy because they’re low in fat." That was a mistake! I took one university nutrition class, which I enjoyed, but it didn’t feel right for me. I wanted to become a registered dietitian, but that class stopped me from choosing that major.

Fortunately, I discovered informative podcasts and books that changed my perspective. I learned that traditional universities often lack a holistic approach and can be influenced by biased funding. I eventually became a licensed psychotherapist, but my interest in nutrition remained strong. I found holistic training focused on a whole-person approach, free from corporate bias.

Now, I see clients for both nutritional psychotherapy and general health, with a special focus on ketogenic therapy. I have a physical office, so I can work with you either in-person or online!

Hi, I'm Tam, a certified Insulin IQ Coach and Health Educator, dedicated to empowering busy moms and women of all ages to heal insulin resistance, reclaim vibrant energy, and spark generational wellness. 

I know the chaos of juggling family life while battling health struggles. I've walked that path  with all its twists and turns for far too long. 

My journey started at 20 years old with an autoimmune diagnosis, escalating at 27 after a 20-week miscarriage and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Weight gain, gut issues, mood swings, and chronic fatigue became my daily reality. If someone had guided me to focus on insulin as the root cause, I could have avoided so much pain—physical and emotional, including a total of five miscarriages, four in the second trimester. It's a miracle I have the 5 living children I do. 

This mission of mine has only become more heartbreakingly personal: my oldest sister, only three years older, lost her battle at 47 years old, from colorectal cancer, a preventable disease tied to unchecked insulin resistance and lifestyle factors. Coming from a family line riddled with these issues, I've seen how poor metabolic health collapses worlds, stealing time, resources, and joy from connecting with those we love in healthy ways.

But here's the hope: I turned my pain into purpose and want to help you do the same. Through 14 years of health education, turning over all the "rocks" to find the root causes, I discovered insulin-centric strategies—simple ways to relearn eating, sleeping, fasting, and nervous system regulation—blended with nature-backed tools for physical support. These changes healed me from the inside out, restoring my energy, confidence, and ability to show up fully for my family. I practice what I preach and have lost over 20lbs in under 3 months using all these tools. 

You can know all the things, but if you don't DO them and hold yourself accountable through the ups and downs, you stay stuck in a place that doesn't serve your higher potential.

Now, as a Metabolic Mentor, I help women break free from the cycle of hopelessness, confusion, and shame that traditional health methods perpetuate.
 

Imagine feeling hopeful again, mastering your metabolism without overwhelming diets or guesswork. Through my programs and working closely with me, you'll learn doable routines that fit your packed schedule—kid-friendly meal hacks, quick stress resets, and personalized insulin-resistant plans—that build progress and discipline. 

No perfection required; just brave, consistent steps that let you reclaim control, release past pain, and embrace your divine brilliance. 

The ripple effect? Healthier kids who learn from your actions, breaking generational patterns and opening doors to abundant opportunities.

Women and mothers are society's change-makers—when you heal, your family thrives, and the world gets a little brighter. If you're tired of fatigue, fluctuating moods, or feeling like self-care isn't worth the effort, let's connect. 

Tell me your struggles and let me help you rebuild your belief in your body, and step into a future of confidence and vitality. 

Book a free discovery call today—together, we'll make small, simple habits that create big, lasting change.

(Let's heal the world, one woman at a time.)

My passion for health and wellness stems from some personal health issues I have gone through. After many years of doctor visists, seeking specialists, running tests, and taking different medications, I never found any relief. I decided to take my health into my own hands. After much research on nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyles, I developed a passion for all these things and started incorporating them into my life. I changed my diet from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to eating whole, unprocesses foods. I stayed away from foods that were not feeding my body nutritionally and started incorporating exercise into my weekly routine. I became a certified personal trainer in 2013 and fell in love with everything fitness! From one-on-one training, to teaching classes and holding workshops on fitness and nutrition, I was really enjoying my career. However, as much as I was enjoying my career, I was finding that exercising was only one piece of the puzzle. I saw first hand, with myself and my clients, that the food we put in our mouths far outweighed what was done in the gym. I continued to educate my clients in the direction of changing their diets to meet their health AND fitness goals. I left the fitness industry in 2020 due to an injury and a couple of surgeries. It did set me back for a bit and began to effect my health negatively. I was determined to get back in the "game" , but with all I had learned up to this point I really wanted to lean into the nutrition aspect of health and wellness this time. I have been implementing the ketogenic and intermittent fasting lifestyle for over 3 years now. Although I started the keto diet (really - it's a lifestyle) to overcome some of my health struggles and not to lose weight, I did naturally lose a small amount of weight and got down to my ideal body weight. However, my main purpose for starting the ketogenic diet was the science behind it and the thousands of testimonies I had seen and heard about it changing people's metabolic health. The science just made sense! The stories were just too many to ignore! I have since been able to keep at bay some of my health challenges- such as, digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and inflammation due to this lifestyle change. I think eating keto (or low-carb) is not a diet but a lifestyle. It has definitely changed my relationship with food. Now I have a passion and desire to help others on their journey to better health by learning to eat insulin-smart and implementing other lifestyle changes. I am excited to meet you where you are at and help you on your wellness journey.

WHERE I HAVE BEEN

HOW I HAVE CHANGED

WHERE I AM GOING

From adolescence until now I always had weight issues. I had an uncontrollable eating problem in the form of binge eating that haunted me all my life. I also had something called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which nobody knew anything about when I was a teenager. To sum it all up I have cycled through restrictive eating and binge cycles, gaining weight and losing weight. Throughout these cycles feeling bloated, huge, ashamed, and worthless were the feelings that followed me all around. I had an extremely low body image which affected what I wore and where I went even who I met and who I did not meet because of the way I felt, very fat! I was unhappy most of the time. The feelings of low self-esteem affected all areas of my life. I felt helpless and alone. I was confused as to how to reclaim my life. I was missing out on so much. After all now the problem was not just how I looked but also how my health was falling apart. 

I was able to change all these by studying nutrition, sports nutrition, functional medicine, nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics but more importantly behavior change methods, coaching approach, mindfulness, mindful eating and self compassion. 

Knowledge is powerful but often not enough to take action(s).

I was able to support myself in bridging the gap between knowledge and action.

I know that many people are also struggling with these problems.

I would not want any other person to go through the embarrassment, loneliness, helplessness, and sadness that I have been through.

I was able to change my story with a low-carb ketogenic nutrition approach.

This made me have a natural relationship with food.

Food is no longer my enemy but my friend. I feel fit, energetic and very well.

I am very excited to coach other people to regain their metabolic health, become fit, and feel well and energetic.

Your metabolism is giving you signals every day — most people just don’t know how to read them. I help clients use CGM data to turn the invisible into visible, so they can understand their body’s real-time responses and make better decisions around food, energy, movement, and long-term health.

I’m Gavin George, an Insulin IQ accredited coach, Nutrition Network Practitioner, and co-founder of Ūpgrade Health in South Africa. I’m also an instrumentation engineer turned metabolic health coach — and that combination shapes the way I work.

My journey into metabolic health was personal before it became professional. I know what it feels like to be metabolically unwell, insulin resistant, and pre-diabetic. I also know how frustrating it is when the usual advice does not explain why your body feels out of balance, why energy is unstable, or why weight, hunger, and health markers become harder to control.

What changed for me was learning to look deeper than glucose alone and understand the role of insulin resistance in metabolic health. CGM data gave me something I immediately recognised from my engineering background: a live signal. Suddenly, hidden patterns became visible. Food, stress, sleep, movement, timing, and recovery were no longer abstract ideas — they were measurable inputs affecting a real biological system.

My coaching is calm, practical, and data driven. I do not believe in guessing, generic meal plans, or chasing perfect glucose lines. I help clients connect the dots between what they eat, how they live, what their CGM shows, and how they feel — then turn that insight into realistic, sustainable action.

For many people, improved weight regulation may be one of the benefits of better metabolic health. But weight loss is not the starting point or the only goal. The deeper goal is to improve metabolic function, energy stability, appetite control, resilience, and confidence in the choices you make every day.

The goal is not to control every number. The goal is to understand what your body has been trying to show you — then use that clarity to build better energy, better choices, and a stronger metabolic foundation.

🔬 [EN] Researcher in Pharmacy and Biochemistry passionate about metabolic health. I focus on type 2 diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, mental health, food addiction, and the metabolic roots of cancer. 

🧬 [PT] Pesquisador em Farmácia e Bioquímica com paixão pela saúde metabólica. Atuo com diabetes tipo 2, obesidade, resistência à insulina, saúde mental, compulsão alimentar e as raízes metabólicas do câncer. 

🇺🇸 English Version – From Collapse to Liberation: My Calling to True Healing

By Márcio Conte

After more than 15 years watching my own health deteriorate — shelves full of medications to manage all the so-called “diseases of prosperity” — my system finally collapsed. On February 1st, 2020, despite taking over 12 medications daily, I suffered a drug-induced seizure. That moment changed the course of my life.

When I regained consciousness, I realized something crucial: the medications weren’t healing me; they were merely suppressing symptoms. Conventional medicine had failed me. Even as a Pharmacy and Biochemistry student at EPM – Escola Paulista de Medicina, I came to a painful realization: we were being trained not to promote health, but to treat disease. I was deeply frustrated.

That’s when I decided to take charge and search for healing myself. In one of those talks, I discovered a so-called “heretic” doctor — often ridiculed in academia and banned from mainstream media — who spoke the truth with courage: Dr. Lair Ribeiro, a cardiologist and expert in nutrition. He mentioned the ketogenic diet as an alternative therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and recommended a film starring Meryl Streep called First Do No Harm, based on the true story of a boy named Charlie.

I found the cure that freed me from these “modern world diseases.” I thank God for the existence of these brave doctors, who endure mockery and persecution for doing what is right in the service of life. These heroes deserve our respect — and I now follow their example so that others may also find freedom from the global disease industry.

In seeking to prevent another seizure, I ended up healing from much more:
obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, acid reflux, chronic gastritis, H. pylori infection, and depression.
My self-esteem returned. My physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual strength was restored.
My academic path was redirected toward promoting true, full-spectrum health. Because yes — it is possible.

I now feel a deep calling:
“To heal the sick and set the captives free.”

[PT] - Do Naufrágio à Libertação: Meu Chamado pela Verdadeira Cura

Depois de mais de 15 anos assistindo ao naufrágio da minha própria saúde, com prateleiras repletas de medicamentos para controlar as chamadas “doenças da prosperidade”, meu corpo entrou em colapso. Em 01/02/2020, mesmo tomando mais de 12 medicamentos diários, sofri uma convulsão medicamentosa. Aquela experiência mudou o curso da minha vida.

Quando voltei a mim, recobrei também a consciência: os medicamentos não estavam me curando, apenas mascaravam os sintomas. A medicina ortodoxa falhara comigo. Como estudante de Farmácia e Bioquímica na EPM – Escola Paulista de Medicina, percebi com dor que estávamos sendo treinados para tratar doenças, e não para promover saúde. Isso me frustrou profundamente.

Decidi então buscar por conta própria uma solução real. Em uma dessas buscas, encontrei um médico herético – perseguido pela “santa inquisição” da medicina moderna – que falou de cura com coragem: Dr. Lair Ribeiro, cardiologista e mestre em Nutrologia. Ele mencionou a dieta cetogênica como alternativa terapêutica para convulsões epilépticas refratárias e indicou o filme First Do No Harm (Pela Vida do Meu Filho), baseado na história real do pequeno Charlie.

Encontrei a cura que me libertou das doenças do mundo moderno. Agradeço profundamente a Deus e a esses médicos corajosos que, apesar da zombaria e perseguição, fazem o que é certo em favor da vida. São heróis. A eles, tiro meu chapéu. E sigo seu exemplo, para que outros também possam se libertar do mercado internacional da doença.

Buscando evitar uma nova convulsão, acabei sendo curado de muito mais:
obesidade, resistência à insulina, diabetes tipo 2, síndrome metabólica, hipertensão, refluxo, gastrite crônica, H. pylori e depressão.
Minha autoestima voltou. Meu vigor físico, mental, emocional e intelectual foi restaurado.
Minha vida acadêmica foi redirecionada para promover saúde plena. Porque sim — é possível.

Tenho um chamado: “Curar os enfermos e libertar os cativos.”

I’m a walking testament to how the Standard American Diet—what I call the "SAD"—can quietly wreak havoc on your health, and how Insulin IQ can turn it all around. For most of my life, I thought I was doing fine, relatively healthy. But over time, things started to slip. High blood pressure, sleep apnea, and crushing fatigue became my new normal. Then came the big blows: surgery to remove my gallbladder, kidney stones, a heart attack, and, to top it all off, a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

I was drowning in a sea of eight medications, including insulin, just to keep my head above water. But I wasn’t getting better—far from it. The treatments were masking symptoms, not addressing the root cause. That’s when I found Insulin IQ. Their approach, grounded in tackling insulin resistance head-on, was a game-changer. By ditching the carb-heavy SAD and embracing nutrient-dense, low-carb eating, along with targeted lifestyle shifts, I started to heal. My blood sugar stabilized, my energy surged, and my health began to rebound in ways I hadn’t thought possible.

Today, I’m off all eight medications. I feel healthier and more vibrant than I have in years. Insulin IQ didn’t just treat my conditions—it gave me the knowledge and tools to take back my life.

            I've taught men and women, Marines to housewives, about the finer points, science and practical application of health and fitness principles. If your goals are better metabolic health, a bit less weight and a higher fitness level, then Insulin IQ and I are the team to consider. I have applied the Insulin IQ program on myself and others successfully. 

            I am an Adjunct Professor, a certified weight loss coach, and (of all things) a SCUBA Instructor. It is my mission to help you reach YOUR health and fitness goals. I look forward to working with you soon.

I’m a health coach who specializes in helping men reverse insulin resistance and take back control of their weight, energy, and long-term health. 

My coaching is rooted in the science taught by Dr. Benjamin Bikman and the Insulin IQ framework, which focuses on lifestyle-first strategies to improve metabolic health.

My path to coaching started with my own interest in fitness and performance.

Along the way, I saw how often men struggle with weight, fatigue, and early signs of metabolic disease, without realizing insulin resistance is at the root.

That pushed me to get my Master Primal Health Certification and then my Insulin IQ certification so I could help others with practical, evidence-based strategies that work in real life.

I don’t hand out quick fixes. I teach you how to eat, move, sleep, and live in a way that makes your body more insulin-sensitive, so you can build habits that last and avoid the chronic illnesses that cut life short.