In this episode, Haylie Pomroy is joined by Linda Burke, certified Fast Metabolism Diet coach and pediatric dentist, to talk about connecting the dots between symptoms, lab testing, and nutrition, and why the right support makes healing your metabolism feel doable.

Linda shares her own health journey with autoimmune issues and thyroid antibodies, how a shingles diagnosis and a simple list of labs led her to answers, and why feeling unwell with normal labs is never a reason to stop looking.

Together, they discuss how clean eating can ease inflammation, why our bodies are nutrient-dependent, how coaching adds structure and accountability, and simple habits like drinking enough water, eating within 30 minutes of waking, and planning your day ahead that support the metabolism.

Hear why being busy is never an excuse to put yourself last, and how a trusted guide can turn a complicated health journey into manageable daily steps, here on Fast Metabolism Matters.

If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.

Free Download: Get Your Copy of Toxic Overload 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/toxic-overload?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=linda_burke 

You don't have to figure this out alone. Inside Haylie's private membership community, you get personalized guidance and support, member discounts on supplements and shakes, and the ability to ask questions directly to podcast guests like Dr. Systrom. Join free for 30 days and take the next step on your health journey.

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Dr. Linda Burke is a pediatric dentist, mother of six, and certified Fast Metabolism Diet Coach through Haylie Pomroy’s nationally recognized program. Having personally faced obesity, an autoimmune disorder, and hypothyroidism, she understands the challenges of balancing health and family life. Linda helps individuals and families navigate their Fast Metabolism Diet journey, with the goal of helping them feel energetic, happy, and healthy. Alongside other coaches in the program, she supports people in learning to love food and put power on their plates.

Website: https://fmdcoach.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fmdcoach/ 

Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.

Learn more about Haylie Pomroy's approach to wellness through her website: https://hayliepomroy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliepomroy 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayliepomroy 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hayliepomroy/videos 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayliepomroy/ 

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Edited Transcript

Linda Burke: I think the most important thing, we want half our body weight in ounces of water. That’s key. I mean, you really have to drink that water. If you’re not drinking water, it’s so difficult to attain great health and feel energetic, get rid of that brain fog, and start releasing all this historical fat that we’ve been holding on to for years. Really, water is key.

Haylie Pomroy: Hey guys, it’s Haylie Pomroy here, your nutritionist, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet. What I wanted to let you know today and talk about is the fact that I don’t do this alone. It takes an incredible amount of effort to work on healing the metabolism, but that effort can be extremely rewarding, and we can make it really easy when you do things like hire a coach. One of our coaches has actually been with me for quite a long time. She’s been part of our community for, gosh, Linda, over eight years, right?

Linda Burke: Yes.

Haylie Pomroy: And she’s been coaching individuals through The Fast Metabolism Diet professionally for a good four years, I would say. You’re coming on four years.

Linda Burke: Yeah.

Haylie Pomroy: And so I wanted to kind of introduce you to our community and have you here today with me to talk through some of the things that you and I both see in practice and let people out there know that they’re not alone in working on healing their metabolism. Everybody, this is one of my most favorite coaches, Linda Burke. Linda, thank you so much for coming here today and just spending some time talking to people.

Linda Burke: Thank you, Haylie. And I’m super excited to be here. And yes, you’re right. I can’t believe it’s coming on four years. It seems like just the other day that you started your coaching program. But yes, it’s probably a little over eight years since I first became familiar with your program and your plans, and on my own followed them because of my own health journey. There are a lot of different... I mean, you name it, I’ve got it. I have shingles, brain outs, autoimmune, I have dyslexia, ADHD. I just feel like I’ve dealt with almost every single thing in the book, but you really are the one that got me to feel better. And so I am the type: if I find something, it’s like a little golden nugget. I just want to share it with everyone. And so, yes, I’m a coach for you, but I feel almost like I’m a brand ambassador because I also love everything about your plans, your supplements, your shakes, your bars. I mean, I can’t live without your bars. And I think it’s contagious. The people around me, not just friends, family, my employees, everybody, when they see how good you feel, they want to feel that way.

And so it’s just kind of something that I love doing, as far as helping others feel better. And as a result, I became a coach through your program, which I love. I mean, I feel I am a lifelong learner. And I even learned... the other thing I love about your program, Haylie, is that you have such a great community on Facebook. Our community is huge. And so not only do I learn through the coaching program and through my fellow coaches, but through our community. I mean, I’ll get on and read something. Somebody asks a question, and somebody else will answer. And it’s things that I sit and think, oh my gosh, I didn’t even know that. That’s interesting. And, oh, what a great way of doing it. That’s just a way I didn’t think about doing it before. And so I think that’s what I love most about this, because, like you said, you’re definitely not alone. I mean, you have an army of people helping, but we are also indebted to you for the knowledge base and everything that you have brought to us to help us. Because I do think it’s important that everybody knows it’s not just The Fast Metabolism Diet. You have 18 different plans and programs that you have taught us to alternate and rotate through to help others feel better.

And so, yes, I’m a coach. I love being a coach. I also see myself more as a cheerleader for people to help them understand they can feel better and it’s doable. I’m very busy because my real job is as a pediatric dentist. I do have six kids. And so life is busy. For anybody listening to this podcast, what I want them to take out of it is that just because you’re busy, that is never an excuse to put yourself last.

Haylie Pomroy: It’s actually an excuse to put yourself on your to-do list. I mean, the other day... people say it all the time, and Linda, you and I are cut from very similar cloth. I always say I should have been turned in on the Lemon Law. If you’ve had a health struggle, if you’re going through a health struggle, let me just tell you: I’ve had horrendous... I mean, labs that just are awful to look at. I’ve had shingles from head to toe. I don’t know how many times. We just have those things in our bodies that we have to work towards healing. But if you’re busy, and if you want to have an abundance of energy, and yours is contagious, Linda, you’ve got to take care of yourself. And you’ve got to do it strategically so that it actually works.

We were talking the other day: there are so many people that come into the community that have put in a lot of effort on some of these crazy fad diets or fasting or keto, or just abusing their bodies with artificial sweeteners and things. They’ve done a lot of work, but it’s been the work of destruction. We’ve just seen that in our community.

You, like myself, have an autoimmune disorder. What is the difference that you feel? Like for me, I would say this isn’t a choice. I mean, unless I want to feel like I felt before, right, which was in a hospital bed. I love how busy I am. I love all the different businesses that I have. I love all the different clients that I have. How do you feel different with an autoimmune disorder when you’re on one of the plans? What’s the difference for you?

Hi, it’s Haylie Pomroy, your host. I’ve written six New York Times bestselling books on metabolic pathways. And my latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do when your body’s overburdened. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/book, for a limited time, you can download a digital copy of this book completely free. That’s hayliepomroy.com/book. Grab your free copy while supplies last. Now, back to our show.

Linda Burke: Okay, it’s huge. It’s absolutely huge. And I think as far as my entire family... and with ADD, I kind of go all over the place, but I promise I’ll circle back around at the end.

But even this morning, for example, my husband said, because I ate badly yesterday during Super Bowl Sunday, my foot feels sore. And that’s because his diet is so cleaned up now. He drinks all your... he loves your Fast Metabolism Shake. I mean, he just is really, really good about eating healthy and exercising. And I would say for me, it’s the same thing with autoimmune. If I don’t stay with a fairly clean diet and try to follow a plan or a program, Haylie, right away, I feel inflammation.

Haylie Pomroy: I do too.

Linda Burke: But the inflammation for me is the worst with my autoimmune issues. And being a dentist, it’s really bad when I feel inflammation, because it’s usually my hands. I feel some of the soreness or achiness. And then along through my arms. And when you talk about shingles, that really, for me, was the eye-opening experience, because it was many years ago, Haylie, probably six to eight years ago, when I submitted a question into your community, saying, I’m confused. At first, I didn’t even know it was shingles. It was just painful. And so when I finally realized and got the shingles diagnosis, I submitted a question into your community because I didn’t know you yet. And I was so lucky that you answered that question. Because I didn’t understand why. I didn’t feel I was old enough to be getting shingles. And so you answered my question. And I’ll never forget what you said. You said, Linda, we all have busy lifestyles. But what is it in our bodies that allows us to manifest shingles and not other people? And so you said, go to my FoodRx book. There’s a list of labs I want you to have run, and have those labs run, and then go from there. Well, that really was what opened up, really, I want to say a can of worms for me, but it was just that I had to then go. My ANA was high as a result of those.

Haylie Pomroy: Okay, so you went to the FoodRx book, and you ran the list of tests, and you found out that you had an autoimmune disorder.

Linda Burke: Yeah. After that, my rheumatologist ruled out things like Sjögren’s and lupus, all the big things. And so I pretty much have thyroid antibodies.

Haylie Pomroy: Is it Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? Is that what they’re calling it?

Linda Burke: No one has ever actually said Hashimoto’s. And I’ve asked my Houston doctor, is it Hashimoto’s? And he said, well, not quite, but I almost feel it probably is, Haylie. I have... I’m hypothyroid too. I feel much better now, though, that I’m taking all of my supplements. I take T3, T4, and I feel amazing. And so, if it wasn’t for you telling me to go to the FoodRx, run those labs, I don’t think I ever would have really pinpointed what it was and what exactly was wrong.

And that’s another thing I want anyone listening to this podcast to know and understand. You’re your own advocate, and you have to really push to try to find out, even if your labs come back normal but you feel terrible. There’s something that could be wrong. We still have to look and see what it could be.

Haylie Pomroy: And you know what I always say about that is the labs that they ran were normal. Oftentimes they’ll run, or we will run, just some basic labs or one view of the body. And so if you don’t feel well, the other thing to think of is if you don’t feel well and your chemistry is stable, meaning that you’re in a state of not well... I hate to use the word illness... but you’re in the state of not being well, not feeling an abundance of energy, not feeling flexible and mobile, and not sleeping deeply, and your chemistry is stable, that means that your body’s adapting, right, to a negative state. And that’s not good either.

The gold standard is that your chemistry is great and you feel even better, and also to give people permission, just don’t forget that when... if they kind of pat you on the shoulder and say, you’re great, you’re fine. My favorite is eat less or watch your ice cream or alcohol consumption or whatever; do without, do without and go be better. Bye. I just go, what the heck? I mean, we’re not designed to do without. We are a nutrient-dependent body. We need help. That’s why coaching is so helpful. That’s why we have that community, like you said, and it was a blessing to all of us that you asked a question, and we jumped in because...

Linda Burke: And Haylie, that’s another point. You just made a great point. We need more, we need more nutrients, and that is your plans. I love that because I’m a super foodie. I love to eat. I wake up thinking about, okay, my meals for the day, and I’m so excited. Or when I travel, I travel because I want to experience food. And so I just love that. And I love that in your plans, you have us eat within 30 minutes of waking, and you don’t want us to go more than three to four hours without food. And I mean, there aren’t a lot of plans that will require that. And so it’s a good fit for me. And so I really have loved that. But yes, as far as autoimmune, I sometimes think I do have Hashimoto’s, but no one’s ever quite termed it that.

Haylie Pomroy: It’s interesting because we’re the only species... like we were talking about this in coaching classes the other night. I’ve got horses, right? And if the horse isn’t running fast enough, the coat isn’t shining, its hooves are bad, the first thing we do is we say, what are we not feeding it? Is the hay bad or are the vitamins off? I mean, we supplement every other species, especially species in captivity. Hello, zoos. I mean, diligently. I mean, we have people that formulate diligently. You can’t sell food without supplementing it. You can’t sell bread in the United States, because we strip all the supplements out, without enriching the flour. And what they add, riboflavin, big deal.

But basically, when you start to fall in love with food, and you start to see the power of food and use food as medicine, you start to go, how are people living without this? How are people living without it? And so, me having an ag background, when I got into a health crisis, I thought of all the animals around me and what I did when they got into a health crisis, and I doubled down on their nutrition. And I thought, well, gosh, maybe it’ll work for me. I have been in the horse community. We have a lot of thyroid issues in a lot of species, but in the horse community, there’s a lot of research around that, both hypo and hyper. It’s kind of fascinating, but it’s so crazy because we would never, like, pat our horses on the back and go, well, your one little picture of your labs looks good. Bye-bye.

We analyze. Hey, could you imagine if we actually cared that much about how we fed ourselves that we said, I’m going to send your dinner off, and I’m going to have it analyzed and make sure that it’s appropriate for you to be eating? I mean, we don’t even consider that for ourselves. We don’t even read labels half the time.

I just want to talk a little bit about coaching and you coaching, because you live a very dynamic life. I kind of... this year, I’m trying to use the word dynamic instead of busy, just because everybody goes, oh my God, you’re so busy. And I’m like, yeah. And I love it. Like, I feel great. It’s amazing. It’s exciting. I love my kids. I love my dogs. I love my horses. I love my friends. I love my coaches. It’s exciting. And there’s such a negative connotation sometimes with busy, but you have a very dynamic life.

How do people get ahold of you if they want to coach with you?

Linda Burke: Well, several different ways. Probably the easiest is to just email me, and it’s linda@fmdcoach.com.

Haylie Pomroy: I’m going to say something about that really quick. We have an online community where you can ask us all questions. The only reason I want you to call a coach or reach out to a coach is to schedule an appointment. They are in it to win it. They’re in it to help you. They’re in it to get you organized, but we want you to reach out. You can look at the website. You can ask about costs and things like that, but don’t email and ask questions except for, oh, how soon can I get in to see you? Okay. I just want to be real cognizant to tell our community that I appreciate that. We don’t, we don’t have an email personally. We don’t have emails. We do it all through websites. You also have a website, Linda?

Linda Burke: Yes, I do. My website is www.fmdcoach.com. And it’s a brand-new website, so it’s just up and running. And hopefully I very soon will have the ability to schedule on that too. You can just go directly to the website and schedule.

Something I want to add, Haylie, you just said something great. I think it’s important for everyone to understand, when you do reach out to a coach, and hopefully it is to schedule, how important it is to have a coach. And you’ve told us all that you’ve had a coach yourself for years.

Haylie Pomroy: I still do.

Linda Burke: It’s difficult to navigate everything on your own, whether you have a very dynamic lifestyle or not. You need somebody that’s kind of guiding you and helping you remember things, prioritize things, put things in order. And it just really helps, I think, having that key person that you can always go back to and that typically will have the answer for you. And if they don’t have the answer, they’re going to find the answer.

And another great thing about your coaches: we meet with you every two weeks for the most part, so if there’s something that we really need help with, we have access to you. And so I think that’s another really great thing about having a coach, that there is that direct link to you.

Haylie Pomroy: And I love that. And we kick around ideas, and we work on cases together, and it’s wonderful. It’s wonderful. I think it brings so many different perspectives together when you’re working on using food as medicine and trying to heal the metabolism. Linda, one last little thing that I just want everybody to kind of understand and know, and that’s that our coaches go through very extensive training programs. I’ve tried to take what I learned in 30 years, right, and put it into a certification program. And my goal has always been to shorten the gap between when I went through my significant health struggles to finding health, victory, call it that, to thriving and not just surviving. I really wanted to shorten that gap for other people.

And so coaches are that way, just you guys helping with meal mapping and grocery list making and cost savings and all of those incredible things that can really let you, let people, live their lives while you guys take care of and organize those things. Linda, I know, I really appreciate you jumping on with me. I have one quick question, and that is: if a person’s out there and they’ve really struggled, and they may be like you and me and have a lot of different things, complex things that have impacted their metabolism, and the metabolism affects every aspect of your life, pain, inflammation, the immune system, the nervous system, the gut, what would you encourage them to do? Give me two tips: right now they’re out there and they’re struggling with weight gain or weight loss. They’re struggling with fatigue, low energy, maybe their cycles are off. They just don’t feel good. What would be two, your number one and your number two tips, that you suggest your clients do?

Hi, it’s Haylie Pomroy, your host. When I was going through my health crisis, the worst part of it was feeling lost and alone, and I decided that I didn’t want anybody else to feel as desperate as I did. That’s why we set up a private membership group where you can come in, ask questions, get support, and be connected with people that can actually help you on your health journey. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/member, you can join me for 30 days for free. I’ll see you there. We can jump in, and we can start to organize the path for your wellness. That’s hayliepomroy.com/member. I will see you there. Now, back to our show.

Linda Burke: For my clients, the two things, and really it’s three that I really love, too. The top two would be making sure to drink a lot of water. And I think the most important thing, we want half our body weight in ounces of water. That’s key. I mean, you really have to drink that water. If you’re not drinking water, it’s so difficult to attain great health and feel energetic, get rid of that brain fog, and start releasing all this historical fat that we’ve been holding on to for years. Really, water is key.

I would say the second thing, well, the reason I said three: I love the 30 minutes, eating within 30 minutes of waking, but also making sure to plan your day ahead of time so that you are not grabbing things at the last minute to eat that aren’t healthy and that aren’t nutritious. And not going for an extended period of time without eating. And I do want to encourage everybody to please go to my Instagram and look at FMD Coach, because you’ll see the clients that I have worked with and how much success they’ve had. Two of my clients on that page have lost over 75 pounds each. And so when you look at their before-and-afters, that’s just with Haylie’s Fast Metabolism Diet. They didn’t alternate in any other plans or programs. They just stuck to Fast Metabolism, to FMD, and did amazing. And they feel amazing.

Haylie Pomroy: That’s what I was going to say. It’s so nice to measure the weight loss, like 75 pounds. That’s incredible. I can only imagine.

Linda Burke: And I think my passion too, that I forgot to tell you, is working with couples. And the reason I love working with couples is because I have found it’s easier when the couple’s doing it together. And I love seeing the effects that it has on the children. It’s the whole family making a lifestyle change. And it’s just incredible for me to witness that.

Haylie Pomroy: And how much it can make an impact on their kids’ lives. Many of the diet myths that we unravel when you start to heal your metabolism are things that we learned from our families. I mean, they were trying to do the best they could, but there’s nothing, whether it’s in business or relationship or friendship... there’s just nowhere where you can expect more by putting in less. It’s just, we are a nutrient-dependent body. I love... we were all looking at your beautiful pictures on your Instagram. It’s so cool to celebrate the power of food and supplementation. And I love what you’re doing, Linda. And I just cannot thank you enough for spending time. I’m going to have you back on. We will talk more. But I will see you soon. We will be talking about cases soon. I’m so grateful to have a colleague like you.

Linda Burke: Thank you for having me.

Haylie Pomroy: I love it. And we will see each other soon. We’ll talk soon. We’ll keep working on cases together. And I just know all the people whose lives you’re touching are just so fortunate to get to do that. I will talk to you soon. Linda, thank you for coming on the show. I really appreciate it.

Linda Burke: Thank you, Haylie. Bye.