The Food With Thought Team

Jump to: Silvia | Heather | Kira | Marigold

Amy Spindel, MSHN, MSSW, BCHN, AFMC

Hi! I’m Amy, a Functional Holistic Nutritionist that uses food and lifestyle changes to help you fix your gut so you can thrive without digestive distress.

My son changed my life in more ways than one. When he was born, his gluten, dairy, soy, corn, egg, citrus, and strawberry allergies made me re-examine my career choices (I used to be a pastry chef; before that, an outpatient family therapist).

I had to remove his food allergies from my diet, and when his gut wasn’t healing, I enrolled in a holistic nutrition program to see what we were missing. While studying for my degree, learned about functional medicine. I was hooked.

When I’m not geeking out with nutrition and functional medicine stuff, I love experimenting with new recipes, gardening, traveling and hiking with my family, and taking my office manager/pet macaw, Marigold, for walks.

Education

  • School of Applied Functional Medicine, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3/AFMC Certification, Incubator Program, Platinum Inner Circle Mentorship Group
  • Hawthorn University, MSHN, Holistic Nutrition, Summa cum laude
  • Clinical Mentorship (Naturopathic & Functional Medicine Approaches to Gastrointestinal Disorders level 1, Advanced Microbiome Manipulation level 2) with Dr. Jason Hawrelak, Probiotic Advisor
  • Clinical Mentorship with Dr. Liz Lipski
  • Ongoing coursework in topics such as digestive health, parasites, heavy metals and detox, hormones, metabolic function, functional lab testing, hair testing and mineral balance, genetics, etc.
  • Collin County Community College, Certificates in Culinary & Pastry Arts
  • Columbia University School of Social Work, MSSW, Heath, Mental Health, and Disabilities in Clinical Practice  
  • Tufts University, BA, Clinical Psychology, Magna cum laude

Affiliations, Certifications, & Other Professional Activities

  • Certified Microbiome Analyst
  • Certified Healthy Gut Practitioner
  • School of Applied Functional Medicine (SAFM), Clinical Education Team
  • Phoebe Prenatal & Postpartum Support, Nutrition Expert
  • Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition (BCHN)
  • Applied Functional Medicine Certification (AFMC)
  • Certified Gluten-Free Practitioner (CGP)
  • Certified Dietary Supplement Professional (CDSP)
  • National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP), Professional Member 
  • Weston A. Price Foundation, Member
  • Trauma-informed, airway-informed, mental health-informed

Silvia Graber, RHN, AFMC

Registered Holistic Nutritionist
Applied Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach

Silvia is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Functional Medicine Health Practitioner. She is also certified in Therapeutic Touch and Energy Healing. She is a graduate of the School of Applied Functional Medicine, and the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition.

Silvia incorporates Functional Medicine principles when working with clients, working with a root-cause approach for all issues. Her ultimate goal is to help her clients become self-empowered and take charge of their own health and wellness, by educating them about how their body works, as well as offering insight and open discussion on mind-sets that may be hindering their progress. Her focus in her practice is gut health and digestive wellness as well as emotional wellness, helping her clients bridge that communication between their body and mind, to achieve lasting wellness and balance. Silvia also has a special interest in blood sugar imbalances, autoimmune diseases, hormone imbalances, allergies and eating disorder recovery. She provides no-nonsense assistance in your quest for wellness, offered with compassion and patience.

When she is not researching and consulting with her mentorship group and clients, she can be found spending time in nature, reading, and singing with her partner.

Heather Tesch, MS, AFMC

Applied Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach
Client Care Coordinator

Heather had symptoms since she was 2 years old, but thought they were part of the normal human experience. It wasn’t until she became severely sick in her early 30s that she gained deep insights into messages her body was sending her. She dove head first into a variety of healing modalities, just to find herself always coming back to Functional Medicine.

After feeling heard and validated, as well as enjoying the comprehensive approach FM practitioners took, Heather decided to become formally educated in the FM principles as well. Heather now coaches clients in her 1:1 practice and also supports other functional medicine practitioners to run their practices with greater ease.

Heather has a BS in interior design, and ironically her favorite aspect of design was mapping out the most functional use of space (similar to client mapping in Functional Medicine)! She has a MS in Change Leadership and certifications through the Coaches Training Institute and Institute for Integrative Nutrition, is a Reiki practitioner (Level 1 certification), and is Applied Functional Medicine Certified.

Heather will be supporting all clients in the practice through health coaching and administrative capacities. She also offers distance reiki to our clients.

Kira Whitham, ND, MS

Functional Nutritionist
Traditional Naturopath

Kira holds a Master’s in Health and Nutrition Education as well as extensive training in functional medicine, the mind-body connection, and lab analysis. She combines the principles of holistic nutrition and functional medicine to help people bring their bodies back to their intended state of wellness.

Kira is a firm believer in the healing power of both the food and the mind, and works hard to help her clients get to the root of their health issues while gaining an understanding of what nourishes and depletes their body.

Kira has additional training in hair mineral tissue analysis and functional lab test analysis. She also offers hypnotherapy to our clients.

Marigold, Blue & Gold Macaw

Office Manager
Professional Bowl Banger

Marigold, based in the Plano virtual office, works closely with Amy to ensure that nearly every functional coaching call has a little noisy humor and subsequent apology embedded in it, whether it’s from squeaking her toy to banging her metal food bowl repeatedly. She does not like to be left out of the conversation. Occasionally, though, she decides that session time is the perfect time for a cozy quiet nap, and so no noisy humor is required.

Other pastimes include going for walks, sitting in the crepe myrtle tree, eating nuts, hiding under the bed, shredding toilet paper, and generally making a mess that only a parrot could make.