Healing PCOS

THINK LIKE A PCOS DIVA

We will begin by changing the way you think about PCOS and your body. Surprised? Many of my clients are shocked that the first thing we do isn’t talking about their diet. They expect lists of foods to eat and not to eat right out of the gate. Here’s the thing: until you think like a PCOS Diva, you cannot live like a PCOS Diva. You may make changes that last a few weeks. You may even start to feel a little better. But until you upgrade your thinking, nothing will stick.

In the long run, no drug, diet, or exercise will help you until you take this step. For many women, this is the biggest challenge. It may be easier to pass up a bagel than to look in the mirror and say something nice or prioritize your well-being over someone else’s wants.

So we begin by establishing your PCOS Diva mindset and practicing mindfulness. We will work together to develop a perspective that will drive every decision you make, from what to eat to how to deal with stress. Finally, you will learn how to use gratitude to fuel your journey. Over the next 21 days, we will cultivate these elements of your upgraded mindset:

Control: By the end of this transformative 21-day plan, you will have the tools you need to take control of your symptoms and environment instead of playing the role of helpless victim.

Partnering: Your body is not betraying you; it is calling for help. You will learn how to stop fighting your body and instead work in partnership with it to recognize its signals and respond in a loving and nurturing way.

“With PCOS Diva, I learned how important it is to care for me. I realized that if one of my children or my husband had PCOS, I would have been doing this program long ago. I would tirelessly research what was good for them, and I would do everything I could to help them live their best lives. Why wasn’t I willing to do that for me? I thought I was being selfish by taking care of myself. I now know the opposite is true. I was being selfish by not taking care of myself. My family needs me. Now they have a healthy mama, and wife who is energetic and engaged. They love the food I make from the meal plans and are moving with me.”

—EMMY DARDICK

Abundance: You will celebrate the abundance in your life. Instead of blaming situations on items you lack or imperfections in yourself and others, you will approach each day with gratitude. The positivity this brings will give you the strength to make the right choices for you.

Progress: You will work toward progress, not perfection. No one is perfect. You will set reasonable goals and celebrate the small wins.

Mindfulness: Truly savoring and being present in a moment will become a habit that will change your perspective on the world and how you move, eat, and love.

Nurturing: Caring for yourself is not selfish, and it is about to change your life. When you approach your body from a place of self-love and compassion, you are better able to hear the messages it is sending to you. You will respond to those messages in a kind and nurturing way, because you understand that you are worth the investment. You are a priority and deserve to feel good.

Please do not skip straight to the 21-Day Plan. There is important information in Part One (#ulink_3ed4a629-0d47-5d62-8abc-ff228b0768eb)! For example, you must read and internalize Chapter 3 (#ulink_718f1aa9-419f-5d83-a359-194db4d219af), “Think like a PCOS Diva.” It is the key to changing your life, controlling your PCOS, and thriving!

EAT LIKE A PCOS DIVA

During Week One (#litres_trial_promo), you’ll also think about what you use to fuel your body. I love the expression, “Nothing tastes as good as feeling good feels.” Although I believe that to be true, eating like a PCOS Diva is no sacrifice. We heal and nurture our bodies with nourishing foods without denying ourselves pleasure. You will discover that:

Food is medicine. Much of what you need to balance your hormones and soothe your PCOS symptoms can be found in the produce section of your grocery store or farmers’ market. You will learn which foods heal you and which foods exacerbate your symptoms.

Your body is sending you messages. Your body is telling you what it needs. Those cravings signal something. You will learn how to partner with your body to translate those signals and give it the nutrients it is asking for. There is no one-size-fits-all diet for PCOS. We will find yours.

Food intolerances, sensitivities, and allergies are at the center of many of your symptoms. You will learn how to detect what is inflaming your body and what is healing it. Do tomatoes give you canker sores? Does bread make you feel foggy? Does dairy cause mucus? Learning which foods to avoid will help you develop your individual protocol for eating like a PCOS Diva.

Preparation is essential. You will learn to set yourself up for success with a few minutes of planning and preparation each day. Preparation will save you from raiding the vending machine at work or skipping your daily walk when you get overwhelmed.

No diet is perfect. Day to day, week to week, an essential nutrient or vitamin may be missing from your diet. Which one is it? Which supplements are right for you? You will learn the supplements that commonly help women with PCOS and how to choose the ones that are right for you.

Indulgence is not an indulgence. Feeling deprived is no way to live, and it certainly is no way to live like a PCOS Diva. You will discover satisfying ways to indulge that will not make you feel lousy later.

Week Two: Live like a PCOS Diva

During Week Two (#litres_trial_promo), we add the next building block of the PCOS Diva lifestyle—movement. Truly living like a PCOS Diva is more than just how you think and what you eat. It requires regular, joyful movement. Your body is made to move, and once you are in the right mindset and your diet is helping to boost your energy, you will be inspired to move it!

MOVE LIKE A PCOS DIVA

No, this is not where you order a chaise longue to be carried about like Mariah Carey. We are not that kind of diva.

PCOS Divas know how to move joyfully. We understand that regular movement is an important part of the PCOS Diva lifestyle, but we do not punish ourselves with exercise. I cannot count the number of hours I spent on the treadmill, miserably trying to work off calories. Years later, I understand that by approaching exercise as an exhausting chore, I was hurting myself more than I was helping. Not only had overexercising exhausted my adrenal glands and made my symptoms worse; constantly punishing myself was emotionally taxing.

Most women I work with are in the same boat. Exercise is not joyful for them. Does this sound like you too? If it does, I’ll help you to find movement you enjoy and want to do regularly—and not because you are afraid of the consequences of skipping it. You deserve to feel great and take pleasure in your body and all it can do. You will discover:

The best movement for women with PCOS is . . . whatever you enjoy! Some of the best choices for our metabolism and hormones include high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, and strength training, but the possibilities are endless.

Adrenal fatigue may be keeping you from reaching your goals. Women with PCOS are hormonally vulnerable. Overtaxing our adrenal glands, producers of hormones that control fertility and the stress response, with the wrong types of movement can throw everything out of balance.

The best way to overcome gym anxiety is to think like a PCOS Diva. There is no need to wait until you have a perfect body or lose 10 pounds to go to the gym. You will enjoy going to the gym because it is an act of self-love. Trust me.

Movement and exercise are not weapons to wield against your body. The gym is not a battleground. I know that finding movement you enjoy can be frustrating and even embarrassing. But you can do it, and before you know it, you will be moving like a PCOS Diva (and loving it)!

Week Three: Thrive like a PCOS Diva

During Weeks One (#litres_trial_promo) and Two (#litres_trial_promo), we explore the basics of the PCOS Diva lifestyle and experiment with what works best for you. In Week Three (#litres_trial_promo), we add meditation to your daily regimen. At this point, you are ready to step out on your own and practice making your own schedules and menus. You will combine everything you’ve learned into a sustainable, mindful, and joyful lifestyle tailored just for you. You will discover that:

Meditation benefits the mind and body. Not only does meditation help to calm your mind and ease stress; it has physical benefits all over the body.

There are many ways to meditate. You don’t have to do tai chi or chant “Om.” You can meditate anytime, anywhere. There’s even an app for that.

There is a balance that is optimal for your life. Diet, career, movement, relationships—you juggle all of these things and more. The trick is to find a balance of all these elements. We will use the Thrive like a PCOS Diva Wheel to help find your balance.

Clutter creates chaos. Whether it is piles of stuff on your counters, thoughts racing through your mind, or relationships that don’t benefit you, clutter bogs you down. You will learn to clear this clutter and thrive.

This may seem overwhelming, but remember: “Small hinges swing big doors.” Becoming healthy isn’t going to happen overnight. However, by taking small steps, you can begin to heal your mind and body.

Your Transformation Begins Now

You are ready. The time to partner with your body and take control of your PCOS is now.

I can’t wait to start this journey with you. You will not believe the positive impact the changes you will be making over the next three weeks will have on you and even those around you. In fact, you will notice the benefits in as little as a week, but they can last a lifetime. Let’s get started!

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Why You Feel Lousy (#ulink_2825e7b8-6c09-5185-a516-f17b4b611b1a)

As early as age fourteen, I wrestled with many common PCOS symptoms such as acne, hypoglycemia, irregular periods, fatigue, scalp hair loss, and unwanted hair, especially on my face. I wasn’t alone. My mother and both grandmothers had similar struggles. It seemed to be the genetic fate of women in my family. Unfortunately, no one was diagnosed with PCOS, so we didn’t know there was a root cause for all of these symptoms.

My mother took me to a general practitioner, a dermatologist, a gynecologist, and even a psychologist, and I was subjected to countless tests including a scalp biopsy, yet I had no diagnosis. Not one doctor thought to check my androgens, insulin, or blood sugar. Still, I took the doctors’ advice, filled prescriptions, and followed orders. I felt like a victim of my genetics, destined to struggle to get pregnant and some days just to get off the couch. That is, until I chose to take control of my health.

Looking back, I am grateful for my journey. It has shaped the woman that I am and enabled me to help tens of thousands of other women to thrive with PCOS as well. But it was a long journey.

I remember clearly one day in college, when I found myself sitting in a cold medical exam room scared and confused, feeling lousy, not having had a period in months and months, and not understanding why. The doctor looked me in the eye and told me they would haveto “jump through hoops” to get me pregnant one day. She renewed my prescription for the pill and sent me on my way. It was a dark moment. I felt helpless and hopeless. I still had no diagnosis. There was no end in sight for my out-of-control symptoms, and now I was facing infertility. Through my twenties, my symptoms worsened. I struck out on my own after college, and that meant eating a lot of inexpensive prepared foods like pasta and macaroni and cheese. I began to struggle with depression. I wondered what was wrong with me. I was a strong, successful, and intelligent woman. Why could I not stop myself from eating Tootsie Rolls? Why was my hair falling out? I was running every day without fail and still gaining weight. I visited an endocrinologist, who gave me spironolactone for my hirsutism (male-pattern hair growth), which did not help because it was only an attempt to treat a symptom. I still didn’t receive a diagnosis.

Eventually, I married the love of my life. We wanted to start a family, so I stopped taking the pill. My health struggles and symptoms continued, but four years later, with the help of clomiphene (Clomid), I became pregnant with my first son. He felt like a miracle. After his birth, we decided to try the Creighton Model for family planning, because I didn’t want to go back on the pill. I met monthly with a Creighton Model teacher who reviewed my charting, and she soon realized that I was not ovulating. She was the first to notice my patterns and mention PCOS. When we were ready to try for a second child, she referred me to a specialist who put me on Actos, guaifenesin, and Clomid. As with all prescriptions up to this point, I took them without question. No dice. I didn’t become pregnant, and I felt awful.

Then I searched out a reproductive endocrinologist. She knew the right labs to request and immediately ordered an ultrasound. Finally! At age thirty, I had my official diagnosis—PCOS. I was put on metformin (which made me horribly sick) and monitored cycles of Clomid. With this help, I conceived my second miracle.

After the birth of my second son, I felt worse than ever. I swore I would never go back on metformin or the pill because both made me feel so awful. I had two beautiful children and a wonderful husband, but I was exhausted all the time and could barely function. My fatigue, hirsutism, brain fog, and hypoglycemia were out of control. I certainlywasn’t the wife or mother I knew I could be. After years of following mainstream advice from countless doctors, I realized that nothing was helping. The drugs they offered made me sicker and more miserable. The drugs that helped get me pregnant couldn’t heal my PCOS. I was way too young to feel so old, and sick and tired of feeling sick and tired—I couldn’t go on living this way.