My Story

Susan is so passionate about what she does and getting people healthy is inspiring! She really takes the time to get to know you so she can personalize strategies for your needs and goals. I was so frustrated before I saw her because nothing I was doing was stopping my sugar cravings and as much as I tried to "eat healthy" I just kept gaining weight. After only 14 days I lost 7 pounds and I feel fantastic! And for the first time in my life, I have a practical, realistic guide for how to eat and actually be healthy! In just a few weeks I already understand so much more about how my body works and how so many foods that are available are working against me. Now that I am learning the facts about food I am able to make good educated decisions about what I eat!

Susan has been great to work with. I have learned so much from her about how food affects our bodies. I Highly recommend seeing her if you are experiencing low energy, fatigue, or woman's health issues! If you can be committed and are willing to do the work, she will give you the tools you need to improve your life.

I originally came to Susan Pugach to address health problems in my family. She is a delight to work with and customized a nutrition plan for me based on my individual needs. My husband is now following a nutrition plan under her guidance. Next is my adult daughter. I am now feeling more energetic, have improved memory and better sleep. Losing weight was a bonus!

3 yrs ago I was diagnosed with sever Diverticulitus. I had extreme gut pain, poor digestion and had a lot of inflamation through out my body.
The diagnosis was life changing major surgery. I wasn't willing to accept that.
After trying several prescriptions from MD's I reached out to Susan and we started on a program to get me healthy again. Within 2 months my digestive symptoms were almost completely relieved. I am eating much more healthy. Even my back problems (bulging disks) have been minimized (this was a byproduct of what we were working on. Not why I came to see her). I have arthritis in my joints, hands, knees, hips and that pain is gone.
I've lost almost 20 pounds, again a byproduct of the life style changes that she recommended. I generally feel better, have more energy and no longer have the inflamation. My skin looks better, eyesight has improved and I'm moving better, more flexibility.
Working with Susan has literally been a life changing experience. I can't stress enough how much my life has improved over what I was experiencing in the past few years. I thought I was eating healthy before, but now we've uped to a new level and it has made a significant improvement in my quality of life.

I originally came to Susan Pugach to address health problems in my family. She is a delight to work with and customized a nutrition plan for me based on my individual needs. My husband is now following a nutrition plan under her guidance. Next is my adult daughter. I am now feeling more energetic, have improved memory and better sleep. Losing weight was a bonus!

I give Susan Pugach the Nutritionist 5 Stars for the simple fact I feel like myself after 8 years of me missing and no longer having pain.
I came to her because I felt food was making my body sick. I felt I had inflammation internally & my body was in a lot of pain. Especially when I ate pasta or bread. Doctors could not find anything wrong with me even after I gain too much weight which I was never use to. I don't even like sweets!
I really don't love food & I know I was a really challenging patient. I questioned everything I was given & told. The process of getting control of my body was hard & I would go through it again.
I know now how it feels to feel great & free again by simply eating clean food & no I still don't love food. The bonus of this life changing process is I started to lose the weight that I had gain.
I am very thankful & bless to have Susan Pugach in my corner. Without her I would have never found how food affects you. Thank you Susan for giving me back.

I started seeing Susan 3 months ago. At that time I was suffering from many serious health issues including IBS, anxiety/depression, fatigue and a list of symptoms that I couldn't fit in this post. First of all, Susan is extremely thorough. Having battled her own major health issues earlier in life, she truly has the experience and understanding of what this process takes to not only heal but optimize your health. She keeps close track of every complaint, where you started, where you are, and where you are trying to go. Her knowledge is incredible because she is constantly evolving and diving into the most current scientific research. She never gives recommendations she hasn't used on herself before hand. She uses the top products in the field, and has a vast knowledge of all of them. On top of all of this, she is incredibly flexible, caring and friendly. She cares as much (if not more than) as her clients about their results.
When you go to see Susan, you aren't just receiving nutritional advice but rather, a set of skills and habits that will help you navigate the rest of your life. Unlike most, I entered her practice with an above average diet and nutritional IQ. Despite this, Susan has led me to a much deeper, well-rounded understanding of health and food. She will hold you accountable.
The best part of her whole approach, is that you will FEEL better. By this I mean that Susan will treat your entire body as an integrated system, optimizing the function of your very cells! In the process of restoring your health, you will LOOK better as a positive side effect.
After only 3 months, I feel almost no more fatigue and I wake up ready to charge. Do to an incredible improvement in my anxiety, I am back to my old social self and no longer have anxiety attacks. After a 9 month hiatus from exercise, I have returned to hiking, surfing and weight lifting. My cognition is at the highest level of my life and my focus is akin to a laser.
If you choose to see Susan just know that this is a process and you must be invested with your time & effort. Some people will see results instantly and others will need longer, but patience is the key because when we give the body what it wants for long enough, your efforts WILL pay off.

When your Natural path tells you that you need to go back to your GP Dr. to get a diagnosis because he doesn't know what to treat you for, basically meaning you are not responding to his treatment, at what point does complete panic set in and then you loose faith in alternative medicine altogether as you know the Dr is going to prescribe drugs, which is the main reason you go to a Natural path in the first place. Well this is what happened to me when I ended up in the Urgent Care at my Natural path's suggestion, only to find out that I was suffering from a severe staph infection. Although the Dr. prescribed me antibiotics and steroids, there was still a part of me that wanted to use natural medicine. I needed to find an alternative to my alternative. That's when I was referred to Susan "The OC Nutritionist".
I was introduced to Susan through a friend who attended one of her health conferences. Immediately, I found Susan extremely sympathetic and concerned about my health issues. She was different from my Natural path who was more about profiting from my condition rather than helping it. Susan was extremely knowledgeable, truly caring and concerned about my issue and genuine desire to help me overcome my health issues rather than profit from them.
During our first meeting she asked lots of questions, explained her process and educated me about diet and how important it was to our quality of life and how she believed that this is what would help me. After doing a symptom survey, Susan was able to identify what the root of the problem was. My gut and my Liver!!
I must admit, I was a bit of a mess when I first met Susan, I was overcoming a staph infection, I was stressed, fatigued, menopausal and covered in rashes. Susan came up with a 12 week nutrition plan that consisted of whole food supplements, the tastiest protein drink, and a regimented dietary and exercise plan.
During the 12 weeks, I had good days, and then again, I had not so good days, but this was all part of the process of nursing my body back to good health. Susan continued to counsel me through the changes, supporting me in every way that she could, she was truly truly working with me to regain my health, never ever did I feel otherwise. By week 8 I was really making some advances and I was feeling wonderful. For the first time in months, my stress had lessened, my energy levels were up, my body rashes were subsiding and my mood swings normalized.
I continue to make strides with my health and I can't thank Susan enough for all that she has done, she really has changed my life.

When I started my nutrition journey I was very depressed and overweight. I have a long history with obsessive compulsive disorder that medication in the past hasn't really helped with and I truly had given up. I hadn't seen my family for over a year because of the shame that came with my weight gain and how mentally unstable I was. Since coming to Susan I barely recognize myself. Not only have I not been on my medication, I haven't even felt the need to go on it again. My OCD has subsided significantly which has truly been life changing. Something that would literally torture me has now improved an astronomical amount. This is something that I've sought therapy for with little to no improvement alongside being medicated. The cherry on top was the weight loss. I lost 45 pounds and still counting! Something I didn't think I was able to do. One of the greatest things has been seeing my family again. I have no idea how long I would have gone without seeing my mom and other members of my family if I had not started this program. This isn't something I'm just doing for now, it's a lifestyle and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to learn these tools.