Hello and welcome to Mountain Glow Lifestyle Medicine and Yoga!

My name is Lisa Kuettle. I have been living and teaching lifestyle medicine since 1985, when I was just 29 years old. I am a family nurse practitioner (FNP) with 18 years experience as a primary care provider, specializing in lifestyle medicine.

What is lifestyle medicine? Lifestyle medicine uses evidence-based therapeutic approaches to prevent, treat, and often times reverse chronic lifestyle-related diseases. The lifestyle medicine approach is based on six principles of wellness:

• A predominantly whole food plant-based diet
• Regular physical activity
• Restorative sleep
• Stress reduction and emotional wellness
• Positive social connections
• Avoidance of risky substance use

My Story

In my late teens and early 20s, I was sick, fat, and depressed. Fortunate to attend nursing school at Loma Linda University, I was introduced to plant-based nutrition and began making small changes: adding whole grains and legumes, decreasing my meat consumption, eating more vegetables, and becoming more physically active. A few years later while working in the ICU at a small hospital in South Lake Tahoe, a co-worker developed chest pain and shortness of breath. With much coaxing, he went to the emergency room. At 36 years old, it was presumed he had pneumonia, however it was actually a massive heart attack. After an emergency angiogram, he was told that so much of the heart muscle had died, it was no use to do a coronary bypass graft, as it would be futile to bring fresh blood to a dead muscle. He was encouraged to file for disability.

Unsatisfied with this answer, I began encouraging him to make the lifestyle changes I had learned about in college. We found that Weimar Institute, a couple hours away, had both and inpatient and outpatient lifestyle medicine program, and he enrolled immediately. Within a year he was hiking, biking, skiing, and continuing to work at the hospital. His cholesterol had dropped from over 300 to 136 in just 8 weeks, and he felt better than he had in years. As his encourager, I decided had I better start practicing what I preached! So I too adopted a 100% plant based diet of whole foods. I ate no meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products, little to no salt, sugar, or oils, and began being physically active every day. Within a month, I was experiencing energy like never before. Over the next year, I lost all my extra pounds, began sleeping well, and enjoyed my very active lifestyle. Depression vanished. The change was so profound, and my energy so high, I never looked back. That was 1985. Fast forward 38 years, and I am still at it. I still feel as good or better than I did at age 29, without any medications or chronic health problems. For the past 30 years, I have coached friends and patients as they made lifestyle changes. I have taught plant based cooking classes in the community, as well as at Central Oregon Community College's adult education program.

After taking 16 years off of work to raise my five sons, I returned to school at OHSU to become a family nurse practitioner. Graduating in 2005, I began working as a primary care provider in family medicine. In 2018, wanting to further my ability to help others achieve optimum health, I studied for two years to become board certified in lifestyle medicine by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM).

In 2011, I discovered yoga, initially as a way to restore flexibility I had lost as a long distance trail runner. I soon discovered that yoga was not just about my physical body; it provided stress relief and emotional healing when I went through the most heart wrenching 2 years of my life. In 2015, I became a certified vinyasa yoga teacher. In 2020, I furthered my education with a 300 hour advanced teacher training. In addition to vinyasa yoga, I am certified in Yoga for Healthy Aging, Mindful Yoga for Trauma and Stress, and Yoga of 12-step Recovery. I continue to teach regular yoga classes both online and in local studios.

In 2020, I started Mountain Glow Lifestyle Medicine in order to make lifestyle medicine principles more accessible, and further assist people in their journey toward wellness. I look forward to meeting you!