She trained hard, ate well, and still had elevated LDL cholesterol

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A life of discipline

Tierra had always taken care of her body.

She’s a full-time yoga teacher and bodybuilder. She trains. Meditates. Drinks her water. Eats with structure.

From the outside, she knew her body well.

But at 35, Tierra understood she only had half of the picture.

The overarching thing was not really knowing what’s really going on internally as much as I know what’s going on externally.

Grief in the body

Before Tierra had ever heard of Function, her life had become heavy.

Over the course of a year, two cousins had passed away. And a close friend. Then her grandmother, who Tierra had helped care for as she lived with vascular dementia.

I was just so sad because it was like things back to back to back.

She kept moving. Retreats. Travel. Work.

But her body was carrying it.

“I never had a chance to grieve anything properly. I was just on the go.”

She got the flu for nearly a month. She wasn’t sleeping well or eating full meals. Just running on empty.

Eventually, she could see clearly what this season had cost her.

“Girl, you need to pause.”

“We aren’t really going to the doctors”

When Tierra received an email from Function, she didn’t sign up immediately.

She was deeply curious and wanted to research.

“Growing up in Black households, we aren’t really going to the doctors, going to get checked out, or going to therapy. These aren’t things that are really glorified.”

So even though health and movement had always been a part of her world, advanced lab testing was not.

She was intrigued by the range of information she would have. Especially with the women’s health biomarkers.

One day I might want to have children. I want to start to prepare my body for the next chapter of my life.

A surprise discovery

When Tierra’s results came back, one number surprised her most.

My overall cholesterol was fine. But when you broke it down, my LDL was high. And I’m like, I don’t even know what that is.

That mattered.

Tierra was not someone eating carelessly or ignoring her health.

Her doctor later told her the cholesterol findings could be hereditary. Tierra thought about her family history and remembered that her grandfathers may have had high cholesterol.

She also thought about her grandmother and what it felt like to watch a health condition change someone she loved.

She didn't know yet what might be passed down. But she knew, for the first time, that this was something to pay attention to right now.

Permission to rest

Tierra didn't keep the results to herself.

She took them to her OB-GYN. She walked into those appointments with something she'd never had before: actual numbers and context.

"I also gave it to my trainer so we could figure out what things I might need to change.”

Her trainer adjusted her meal plan. She started paying closer attention to carbohydrates like swapping white rice for sweet potatoes. She read labels more carefully and became more deliberate about supplements.

Since I found Function, I’ve been living 10 times healthier on a daily basis.

But the bigger shift was something she hadn't been measuring at all: rest.

After months of grief and caretaking, she finally gave herself permission to pause.

Now, the 8th of every month is her personal PTO day. Her birthday is November 8, and she decided the date deserved to be honored every single month.

"No work. No email. Nothing. I'm going to do what I want to do.”

Only one vessel

For Tierra, Function completely changed the way she thinks about her health.

“I never had that level of understanding or learning what was actually going on in my body in my 35 years of living until then.”

She learned that feeling healthy and knowing your body are not the same thing.

And coming from a community where doctor visits were not always normalized, she now advocates for starting early.

When it comes to preventive and proactive care within the Black community, I would say be open to it. Don’t be nervous. Don’t be afraid. Research it.

For her, knowing more is not about fear.

It’s about responsibility.

“We only get one life. We only get one vessel. And it’s our job to really pour into ourselves as much as we can. The more you know, the better you can do with showing up.”