Hi! I’m Elizabeth Flynn, Functional Nutrition Practitioner and FEMM Instructor, in Leesburg Virginia. I help clients discover the 3 root causes to any of their symptoms and health issues. I work mainly with women suffering from hormone-related issues, and mothers overwhelmed by the demands of family life.

I have always recognized that what you put into your body affects so many aspects of your life.

My favorite childhood phrase I repeated often was “Deeeelicious and Nuuutritious!” I could easily say this everyday because I was fortunate to have a mother who learned a lot as a teenager working in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant, and a father who was a gourmet cook with an immense garden.

Oddly, my mother did not want to teach me how to cook. So at the age of 8 years old, she enrolled me in a 4-H cooking club. This is where my love for nutrition started! By the time I was a teenager, I was leading my own 4-H cooking club. I even got a scholarship because of this club activity!

About the same time I was launching my 4-H career, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at just 33 years old. Knowing how close he was to death, and watching his recovery shaped my childhood into one of appreciating the power of good, fresh food, plenty of time outside, and time for prayer, gratitude and laughter. I also vowed to do all I could to stay healthy and avoid anything that could cause cancer.

Many years later, as I was preparing to get married, I took a Natural Family Planning class. Here I learned the value of being in control of my own fertility rather than relying on pharmaceuticals to “fix” something that wasn’t broken. NFP was so natural and healthy, it just made sense to me. I wanted to share this knowledge with others so I became an NFP instructor in 2001.

I was also a military spouse, homeschooling 5 kids and moving all over the country. At times I struggled, almost daily, with just keeping everyone healthy. Already wary of pharmaceuticals when not necessary, I sought out all kinds of ways to boost our health and immunity. My family enjoyed every phase: making homemade kefir, yogurt, kombucha, sourdough, sauerkraut, herbal infusions, elderberry syrup, homemade cheeses with raw milk, and growing sprouts year round. (No, I don’t still do all of this, and never did all of this at the same time—I need to sleep once in a while). For the last 15 years, I have also made many health and beauty products and continue to educate myself with classes on how to use healing herbs and oils in my products.

I have always loved sharing my knowledge with others. I’ve taught countless people how to make kombucha, healing teas, and lip balm — in my own home. And there’s the random calls asking my opinion on a certain oil, herb or remedy. So naturally, when my youngest daughter started public high school in 2021, I started nutrition classes and was certified in Functional Nutrition Counseling in 2022. I was intrigued most by what I learned nutritionally for reproduction and hormones. So, with my background in NFP, I decided to also get certified in Fertility Education and Medical Management (spring 2024).

In the spring of 2023, while I was trying to set up my business, Nurture and Nourish, I suffered from severe adrenal fatigue (a.k.a. hormonal dysfunction), aggravated by menopause and eventually a diagnosis of chronic Lyme and Epstein Barr Virus. This was devastating. I could barely walk 50 feet, and there were months where I had to force myself to get out of bed. For the first time in my life, I was plagued by something I could not figure out how to “nutrition” my way out of. But this forced me to study hormones on a much deeper level than I ever would have. I now have firsthand knowledge about chronic disorders, fatigue and how hormones hold our bodies together.

As I continue on my healing journey, I am more passionate than ever to help others sort through their own tangled web of hormones, pains, illnesses, and symptoms to get to the root of their issues and accompany them on their healing journey.