Jodi's Story
From Protein Shakes and Barbells
Jodi was a gymnast and body builder with a poor diet (S.A.D.) consisting of a high sugar intake that included Hostess Ding Dongs, Cupcakes and Ho-Ho’s before a work out. Nonetheless, she was able to bench press 185 pounds, weighing on average 125 lbs.
Mis-Diagnosed and over medicated
In 1996, I went to a physical therapist after falling down on the ice in a parking lot in West Des Moines, Iowa. She told me, “the pain is all in your head, and there is nothing physically wrong with you.” Actually, the pain that I felt was in my shoulders, neck and the levator scapulae.
I was told to see a psychiatrist, which I did. This doctor misdiagnosed me with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I had read that people who had bipolar disorder had a lot of pain, so I trusted what the doctor told me to do. I took the medicine he prescribed for 19 years. I should mention, that I had low self-esteem, which is why I did not question what he or other people told me. I was also looking for a quick fix to my problems. After the first two weeks of taking these medications, I gained over 50 pounds and a new XXL sweat suit. Eventually, I gained a total of 110 pounds. I weighed in at 234 pounds,
Health and Wellness
After being properly diagnosed by a team of doctors, Neurologists, Psychologists and Orthopedists; and on the advice of her past Psychologist, Dr. Michelle Kukla, of Healthy Living Counseling Center in Palatine, IL, Jodi explored healthy eating (organic whole foods), nutrition, Acupuncture, EFT Tapping, EMDR, BAUD, and Meditation to support her body in healing itself. Jodi also sought out other healing modalities such as Essential Oils, Chiropractic Care, Applied Kinesiology, Energy Healing and Muscle Activation Technique (MAT). She now intimately understands that “The POWER that made the body HEALS THE BODY; it happens no other way” – B.J. Palmer
Present Day
Today, Jodi Suson is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Essential Oils Coach, MBA, Organizational Behavior | Human Behaviorist, Best Selling Author, Medical Intuitive, Animal Communicator, Master in Divine Intervention and Spontaneous Remission, Reiki Master, Radio/TV Show Host Self-Cell Care™, The Female Solution which can be viewed on Apple PodCast, BlogTalk Radio, PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, Audible, Facebook, LinkedIn, iHeartRadio and Rumble.
Jodi’s stories featured in different articles
How I Took Control of My Health
I was misdiagnosed in 1997 and spent nearly 2 decades sick and in ill health because I was overmedicated with 17 prescription drugs. Between 2013 and 2017, I went on disability, and used plant- and energy-based healing to reverse 22 chronic conditions like small fiber neuropathy, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, heavy metals, PTSD, depression, anxiety and daily panic attacks. As a result of this lifestyle change, I also lost 92 pounds.
After learning about the power of plants and studying under functional medicine doctors, TCM doctors and decades of training with leadership professionals, I personally designed programs that allow you to get to the root cause of your dysfunction. For the majority of us, our dis-ease is tied to our emotions. The emotions can be driven by the toxins consumed, which is driven by our lifestyle choices. The toxins impair our ability to process our emotions and then it manifests as pain, skin issues, brain fog, the list is endless. Somethings are obvious, such as boxed food laden with chemicals and cane sugar. Of course, there are triggers from childhood as well and we all are tasked with doing the shadow work to let our bodies heal itself.
When I did the deep dive, I found the not so obvious culprits that most of us are not thinking about. Because I was willing to research, interview and test, I was able to reclaim my health and then design programs that help you improve your current health status. I have created a clear path to health for you and your loved ones.
If you are like me, you may have been making excuses for your pain, irritability, and mood swings, until you really can’t ignore them anymore. You may be confusing packaged food for healthy food. There is not a mistake that you have made that I have not already made myself. The great news is that in nature we have everything we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Providing your body with the right nutrition, free from chemicals, adopting a food as medicine lifestyle, allows your body to heal itself.
A startling fact is that there has been a 75% increase in death by prescription medication since I wrote my story “Informed Choices” in 2016. Download here Nearly 92,000 people in the U.S. died from drugs between 1999 and 2020.
The key to great health is to make conscious choices to remove those things that do not fuel your soul, replacing them with those foods, people and thought forms that are for your highest good, and then you can receive the light and live by your highest values.
– Jodi L. Suson-Calhoun, MBA, Nutritionist, Medical Intuitive, Human Behaviorist
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates
https://ethics.harvard.edu/blog/new-prescription-drugs-major-health-risk-few-offsetting-advantages
23 Quotes to Inspire Greatness
Every successful person has barriers and challenges to overcome. Here are words of wisdom from 23 women who know what it takes
“I want to save 76 lives today, informed choices matter, your life matters.” — Jodi L. Suson
To Transform the Lives of Others – I had to Transform My Life First
Healing From The Inside Out with Non - Traditional Healing
Jodi was the featured speaker on the Female Solution with Talk Show Host Zelda Robinson of Zelda Speaks.
Chicago Tribune
Read about Jodi’s ‘contagious passion’ for healthful living in the Chicago Tribune
Jodi Suson prides herself on living a toxin-free life, eating only organic whole foods and using personal care and cleaning products that don’t contain chemicals.
The Barrington native and former gymnast and bodybuilder is a corporate health and wellness consultant. She started her Palatine-based business, Suson Essentials in 2015 and published told her personal health story in “Informed Choices,” which is part of the “Overcoming Mediocrity” book series. It features a collection of inspiring stories from women all over the country.
However, Suson’s health journey has not been an easy one. After falling on ice on her way to work one day in 1996, she suffered from a great deal of physical pain all over her body, she explained.
She said no MRI was done, and a physical therapist told her the pain was “all in her head” and suggested Suson see a psychiatrist instead. Suson said she was then misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and was initially prescribed three medications – then put on a variety of medical trials.
Each time the trial ended, she said, the doctor, who since lost his license to practice, did not take Suson off the medication from the previous trial. Instead, the doctor added her to new medical trials with new drugs that the pharmaceutical industry wanted to test.
By 2007, Suson said she was taking 17 different medications, which caused her to develop many physical and mental health conditions, including 135 food and chemical sensitivities and such conditions as anxiety, arthritis, asthma, chronic inflammation, depression, incontinence, pre-diabetes and neuropathy.
he medication caused a substantial amount of weight gain, Suson said, explaining that she weighed 234 pounds at one point.
“The drugs combined with the GMO [genetically modified organism] foods and the foods with pesticides, antibiotics and other hormones changed my gut health, which is directly linked to our brain health,” she said. “When I was on the medications, I, for the first time in my life, began to overeat. The drugs made me think that I was always hungry.”
She said the ordeal had a significant impact on her life in other ways as well. In 2011, Suson said she had hysterectomy because she developed tumors all over her reproductive organs. She believes it happened because of the medication she was on as well as the toxins in her tap, bottled and shower water and in her personal care items.
“I felt like I was like the walking dead, because [the drugs] numbed everything about me,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Toward the end of 2013, she became disabled and could not work or drive.
She said the turning point came when Suson got retested by a neurologist and psychologist, who helped her get off all the medication. Shortly after, Suson noticed that her normal appetite came back, she lost 92 pounds and eventually reversed chronic conditions by using plant and energy-based healing.
She then decided to make other lifestyle changes too. Suson took a food and chemical sensitivity test, which helped her identify all the foods that caused inflammation and completely cut out processed foods from her diet.
“After eight months, I was pretty much unstoppable,” she said. “The biggest change I had to make was to make sure that I stayed open to possibility and to understand that the only constant that we have in life is change.”
Suson also studied plants extensively and said she now only uses homemade remedies and natural antibiotics to cure small ailments.
She uses her experience to inspire and educate others about healthy living by giving presentations all over Illinois on various topics such as stress, food and chemicals, she explained.
“When you eliminate the toxins in your life, that stress and anxiety goes away”, Suson said.
Her “Functional Food Program” teaches people how to navigate a grocery store and develop a personal health food plan.
“I wish someone would have done that for me,” she said. “That’s what drives me every day, because people don’t know how good they can feel.”
Suson’s long-term goal is to become a doctor of nutrition, for which she plans to start taking courses this year.
