Burnout isn’t just mental.
It’s not laziness.
It’s not a mindset problem.
It’s physiological.
In this episode, I sit down with Elizabeth Gaines, Director of Education at Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) and a Functional Wellness Practitioner specializing in burnout recovery.
Before stepping into the functional health space, Elizabeth spent over a decade working in nonprofit trauma recovery, supporting victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. The relentless pace, emotional intensity, and lack of boundaries eventually led her into full-blown burnout and chronic fatigue.
When conventional medicine dismissed her symptoms as “normal” or emotional, she turned to functional lab testing. Through FDN’s data-driven approach, she uncovered hidden dysfunction, rebuilt her health, and now trains practitioners around the world to do the same.
In this conversation, we unpack the hidden physiology of burnout — what’s really happening inside your body when you can’t “push through” anymore.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- The difference between stress and true burnout
- Why your labs can look “normal” while you feel exhausted
- How chronic stress impacts hormones and motivation
- The role of sympathetic vs. parasympathetic balance
- Why productivity culture fuels depletion
- When it’s time to test instead of guess
Connect with Elizabeth & FDN
- Website: https://www.functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fdntraining/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FunctionalDiagnosticNutrition/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7xDnEKCe9gKeWZ2vbE3C8w
Burnout isn’t your fault — but healing it is your responsibility, and this episode will show you where to begin.
