Registered Dietitian Anabelle Clebaner faced a significant challenge in her coaching programs: how to effectively monitor and address blood sugar irregularities in her clients. This case study highlights Anabelle's partnership with Veri Researcher Peyton Lessard, MS, to implement the Veri platform into one of her 30-day nutrition programs. In its first round, this program demonstrated the benefits of real-time glucose tracking in individual health outcomes and practitioner ease of use, paving the way for more personalized and effective interventions in fertility and overall health.
About Anabelle Clebaner
Anabelle Clebaner is a Registered Dietitian who specializes in fertility. She completed her Masters of Nutrition Science and Behavioral Change from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in 2018. After completing 1200 hours of clinical supervision, and passing the RD exam, Anabelle opened her own private practice, Wellspring Nutrition, in 2020. She has helped hundreds of clients globally on her mission to educate and empower women during their reproductive years.
Problem
Stabilizing blood sugar in non-diabetics is often overlooked; however, it is a crucial first step in resolving many chronic conditions, managing weight, and achieving health goals.
Insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction can lead to irregular menses, cessation of menses, disrupted ovulation, and lack of egg release- all of which are necessary for conception [1]. Hormonal disruptions caused by insulin resistance can also lead to a high level of androgens (i.e., testosterone and other male sex hormones), which can contribute to the development of PCOS and infertility [2].
Anabelle’s clients come to her because of fertility issues but are often unaware that metabolic dysfunction is at the root of the problem. Their health concerns may also include PCOS, uterine fibroids, skin issues, infertility, weight loss, blood sugar management, egg quality, irregular cycles, and fatigue.
Anabelle came to Veri with a strong understanding of metabolic health but faced challenges implementing blood sugar-stabilizing strategies into her program. Without continuous glucose monitoring, practitioners like Anabelle – and their clients – often rely on blunt measurements like weight and subjective feelings like mood. Anabelle couldn’t create tailored interventions for clients because she couldn’t measure what was happening inside their bodies. Her clients had no way to accurately track their glucose response to food, sleep, exercise, and stress.
Continuous Glucose Monitors provide the data needed to track metabolic health, but they can be difficult to obtain from US pharmacies and access data remotely as a practitioner. With the Veri for Coaches platform, Anabelle was able to provide CGMs for her clients to use, have a simple app for her clients to use with the CGM, and view her clients’ progress throughout the program.
Solution
Veri and Anabelle collaborated to run this 30-day pilot program called “Shift” to measure the impact of CGMs on client outcomes. The program cohort included 11 females aged 26 to 39. Their health goals were to improve their blood sugar and fertility, with some members seeking to lose weight as well.
The 30-day Shift program offered clients:
- Weekly live group coaching from Anabelle and Peyton covering a blood sugar balancing and fertility curriculum, which included modules on: Glucose basics, metabolic health, nutrition, and hormone health
- Weekly meal plans and custom macronutrient prescription
- 2 CGMs per person and access to the Veri app
- Access to live chat with Anabelle
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The most exciting thing about using the Veri dashboard and CGM with clients is that they were able to take more control in their own hands. Rather than relying on me all the time to tell them what to eat, I was able to step back and just give them guidance and they were able to see exactly what they were eating and how that was impacting their blood sugar.
Throughout the 30-day program, Anabelle was available via chat to work through any client-specific issues. Using the Veri for Coaches dashboard, Anabelle could see her client’s blood glucose data in real time and pinpoint problem areas for proactive intervention. The dashboard contextualized each participants’ glucose data with meal logs and sleep and exercise tracking, allowing her to give personalized recommendations throughout the program.
Results
Stabilizing blood sugar was the missing piece in the puzzle for Anabelle’s fertility program. By using CGMs paired with the Veri app, clients were able to see in real-time their response to not only the meal plan, but to exercise, stress, and sleep. This feedback loop supported their motivation to continue making healthy changes in their lives.
When surveyed, 100% of members stated that they had achieved their health goal for the program. During the Shift program, two clients who were previously experiencing infertility conceived, and several clients recovered a regular menstrual cycle. 82% of clients improved their time in range and glucose variability, along with self-reported improved mood and energy levels. 86% of participants said they would like to continue working with a nutritionist and participants rated the Veri app an average of 4.8 out of 5.
The Shift program was so successful that, Anabelle decided to run it again with new members.
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“The shift program was life-changing! Learning how to balance my blood sugar has been amazing, my energy and mood are more balanced, I’m not hangry and I don’t crave sweet snacks all the time. I’ve lost a few pounds too and generally feel healthier. ‘Shift’ has really changed my food and exercise habits and I’m so grateful for having completed this program.”
What’s next?
After seeing the impact in the Shift program, Anabelle has decided to include Veri in all of her coaching programs. She’s launching a new group coaching program, the first month of which will be focused on blood sugar management using Veri for Coaches. She’s also started using Veri for Coaches with her one-on-one clients.
Integrate Veri for Coach into your practice
With Veri for Coaches, practitioners have a turnkey solution to offer continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and Veri’s app to their clients, with a robust dashboard that brings all of their client data together.
Veri for Coaches includes:
- Real-time syncing with client CGM and app data
- A comprehensive dashboard for client management and data visualization
- Intuitive meal logging and scoring
- Sleep, activity, exercise, and weight tracking
- Integration with Oura, Apple Health, Fitbit, and Google Fit
- Flexible pricing for practitioners and their clients
- Full GDPR-compliant data privacy to securely access and store client data
Veri for Coaches is available to qualified independent practitioners. To apply for access and find more information on how you can get started with Veri for Coaches, visit our website.
About Peyton Lessard
Peyton Lessard completed her Masters of Nutrition Science and Behavioral Change from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy. She is currently enrolled in the Didactic Program of Dietetics at Simmons University and will begin her Dietetic Internship in Fall 2024. She has been working with Veri since January 2023 as a researcher and writer on the health team.
