THINK+SMART, a practical and powerful framework grounded in metabolic strategies, is the brainchild of Jan Ellison Baszucki, the founder of Metabolic Mind. Read her article to learn more about the inspiration behind this one-of-a-kind framework. Before I had any connection to Metabolic Mind, I heard Jan speak on a podcast. Her story moved me to tears. She shared how clinicians told her to accept that her son, Matt, who had treatment-resistant bipolar I disorder, would never fully recover. They suggested she hope for a partial recovery at best, but she refused to accept that answer. She didn’t want a fraction of her son back; she wanted him entirely back—the person she knew and loved before he became ill.

Hearing Jan’s passion and determination to restore her son’s health—and learning how that journey led her to discover ketogenic and other metabolic therapies—deeply resonated with me. Before finding metabolic therapies, I had felt the same way about myself that Jan felt about Matt. I didn’t want to accept that I might never be restored to the person I had once been or recover the passion, creativity, energy, and love for life that I experienced before my bipolar I diagnosis. It wasn’t until I put my illness into remission using metabolic therapies that I finally felt fully myself again. 

But I shouldn’t have had to stumble upon these life-changing treatments by chance—why weren’t they more widely accessible to the countless others who could benefit? By offering a personalized and accessible framework, THINK+SMART takes a giant leap towards bridging the gap, empowering individuals to reclaim their lives through interventions that improve metabolism and restore mental well-being. 

If you’ve been implementing metabolic interventions for over four months and have experienced benefits, please share your strategies with the community to help grow our collective wisdom and inspire others on their journeys.

I have now connected with so many experts by experience whose journeys mirror my own. As early adopters, many of us began implementing metabolic therapies before we even understood what they were or how they worked to address the root cause of our psychiatric symptoms: neurometabolic dysfunction. When I first started my journey with ketogenic therapy in the summer of 2021, I couldn’t find a single success story online, let alone a guide to help me explore the wide range of strategies that could improve how my body transforms and utilizes energy. These interventions, which I now understand fall under the broad category of metabolic therapies, can drastically improve quality of life—and in some cases, even put serious mental illnesses into remission.

THINK+SMART fills a critical gap, offering individuals an actionable framework to design their own metabolic and mental health recovery plan. It’s the roadmap I wish I’d had at the start of my journey—combining practical tools, wisdom gleaned from both peers and experts, and inspirational stories to show that full recovery and the restoration of one’s best self is possible and worth pursuing. 

I’ve occasionally heard the criticism that I act like ketogenic therapy is a silver bullet—but that couldn’t be further from the truth. For many, myself included, it is a cornerstone treatment, offering the critical biochemical intervention needed to stabilize a serious mental illness. However, as pioneering Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Palmer emphasized in our recent discussion about THINK+SMART, it is only step one in a much longer journey—a fundamental rebirth that often requires rebuilding your life from the ground up. One of the hardest parts of healing is deciding who you will become once you are no longer defined by the symptoms that once consumed you.

That’s where THINK+SMART comes in. It goes far beyond symptom remission, encompassing strategies for motivation, behavior change, long-term maintenance, and post-traumatic growth. It provides tools to help people not only recover but also redefine themselves—to recreate their lives with hope, resilience, optimism.

Over the coming months, we will be sharing articles and videos that highlight the wide range of strategies that have helped me and others restore our mental and physical health. In a previous article, I detailed some of the Rebuild Strategies that guided me to the road out of the hell of mental illness including meditation, visualization, and journaling. 

But one thing I have personally experienced—and heard from countless others—is that healing isn’t linear. It’s a hike up peaks and down valleys, a journey of gradual forward progress and inevitable setbacks. That’s why we’re also developing resources within the THINK+SMART model to help people bounce back when challenges arise. If you’re someone with lived experience or a coach, I’d love to hear from you—what strategies have helped you or your clients get back on track after a setback? Please send us your thoughts at info@metabolicmind.org.

Are there other resources you’d like to see within the THINK+SMART framework? This self-guided tool is shaped entirely by people with lived experience, and our goal is to support our community through every stage—from initial behavior change to maintaining long-term remission, and the years of rebuilding that follow.

Healing is not just possible—it can be a beautiful, transformative adventure. While the journey can be difficult at times, it’s worth it. Our hope is to equip you with the tools to find success, experience rebirth, and begin writing the extraordinary next chapter of your life.