I know myself very well in that I can’t really do like cheese or dairy and moderation. So for me personally, I was like, I just have to change it all at once because it’ll kind of spiral, I’ll have a piece of pizza and then I want ice cream and that, you know, it’s, I’m like, no, just nothing, no gluten,
no dairy. And within that first week I was down five pounds and I immediately felt better. I hadn’t pulled out my scale in so long because I knew I wasn’t losing the weight, but you just have that feeling and you start to feel better. I got on the scale and immediately I was like, okay, this, this is working Dr. SU my own hands.
And with the other stem naturally, Welcome everyone to another episode of a sister and term, Mister today, we have Gloria with us. She is a fellow sister from the sisterhood who was struggling with mood swings, intense cravings, painful cystic acne, irregular cycles, and just could not lose a single pound, no matter how much you worked out.
But since joining the sisterhood, she’s gone gluten and dairy free traded her hit workouts for more PCs, friendly workouts. And now she’s down 26 pounds in under three months. And she’s here to tell us all about it. Gloria. Welcome. We’re so happy. You’re here with Us. Thank you. Thank you. We actually had a live together, I would say like a month ago or so.
So for any sisters who are listening, you may have heard or seen Gloria in that light. So thank you, Gloria for coming on to do this podcast with us. Of course. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Absolutely. As we get started, could you tell us how it all began for you? Like what was it like being diagnosed and what led you up to the moment of being diagnosed?
Yes. So for the longest time I noticed over the course of the past couple of years, I was gaining weight slowly, but consistently I’ve always been a pretty fit person, but I’ve been on birth control for the past 10 years or so. So I never really knew anything about, you know, how my cycle was supposed to come or regulating hormones or anything like that,
really. Because like I said, I’ve been on birth control for so long and they started that because my cramps were just terrible. My cycle was awful birth control. So that was kind of how we got there. And then, yeah, I could not lose a single pound. And like I said, I’ve always been pretty athletic and had a decent builds.
Of course you hear from everyone, you look, it’s like, well, you know, I don’t feel fine. And that was kind of the steps leading up to when I went to see my OB and I said, you know, I’m done with control. Like I want to figure out what’s going on with my body and kind of why I’m not able to lose weight.
Does it have something to do with the birth? Like what’s going on, take the control out again, gaining weight. I was doing a very intense hit class and I was doing that while. And that’s kind of when I started to get so frustrated to the point where I was like, you know what, let’s do some testing. My OB ordered a plethora of blood tests.
And that’s when she told me it has a lot to do with your hormones and you have what’s called S and I said, okay, what’s that? Yeah, I was just going to, I was just going to ask, have you ever heard of pizzerias before that moment? No. I had no idea what it meant, but of course I went to Google immediately.
Like as my doctor talking to me on the phone, The doctor giving you an explanation, She basically said right off the bat, she said, I’m not a dietician. So I don’t want to recommend that you eat a certain way, but I have something to do with your eating. She did say that. She said that other than that, no,
just you have PCOS. And of course you go to Google MD because you’re thinking is that mean exactly. She recommended that I follow some dietician on Instagram and my other option was to pay someone out of pocket. And I was kind of just thinking to myself, like, no, there has to be information out there. There has to be, I was waiting for her to send over the Instagram page to message me with that information.
And that’s when I found your page, I got on Instagram on mine and I actually told her about your page and my recent follow-ups. And hopefully she gives that information out to people. So they can the sisterhood as well. Well, I was just gonna say it is a bit of a refresher to hear her say, I’m not a dietician, so I don’t want to tell you like something wrong,
but she said it, it might have to do with the types of food you’re eating. She said, Love that. She said that because doctors and dieticians and endocrinologists should all work together to work with the patient in whatever they specialize in to solve the problem, you know? Yeah. And a doctor shouldn’t immediately by default just being like, just lose weight.
Like there is a way and a method and they shouldn’t just say those three words. Cause it’s more complicated than that. So I’m so glad You didn’t experience. Yeah. Yes. And initially she did say some things like lifestyle and me being the person I am. I want it. Well, what does that mean? Because that’s a broad term lifestyle.
When you say lifestyle, that’s when she went into, well, what kind of workouts are you doing? And I said, I’ve been doing hit workouts for months. And I, I feel like these high intensity workouts, I have zero energy after the workout. I have to sit in my car for like 40 minutes just to be able to drive home because I’m drained of all energy I have and I haven’t lost a single pound what’s going on.
And that’s when she said, I’m not a dietician, I’m not a trainer, but look into those hit workouts. So you can tell she’s very well versed in this. And I did get very, very lucky with having a great doctor because she did say maybe the high intensity is doing more harm than good. Again, not much to go by, but it was a start.
It was something The difficult parts is like a lot of times people are told, just like, oh, if you do this, it will help. But like you have no idea where to start to do that thing. So that’s like one of the frustrating parts about PCs, I bet. Is that just not knowing where to start? Cause you’re just giving like advice,
but no where to really Start no plan, no direction. Does your doctor have any direction or any tips for you when you were coming off of the birth control? Honestly, no. There were no. And that’s, I think it’s just a huge conversation to just within the medical world. Like you’re given birth control to kind of subside these things that are going on in your,
but you’re yeah. These period problems that are going on with your body, but then you’re not really told how it’s helping. You’re just told, take this. And of course for a while, that’s fine. But if you ever have any desires to kind of learn your body, I recommend if you can do that sooner than later, because it is frustrating to get off birth.
And that was another thing I wasn’t having cycles after I got off my birth control, that kind of led up to me, wanting to know what in the world is going on, why that’s not normal. You know, I love your curiosity because that’s really what brought you to the answers because you were persistent and like you really ran after, how am I going to find the solution for this?
Because for example, my sister, she got off birth control and the doctor said, well, if you don’t get your period in a couple of months, you probably have ovarian failure. So come back and I’ll give you something else. This is like, after like 15 years of being on birth control. And she’s like, she didn’t even suggest that maybe you can do something for yourself that can get your period back.
It was like, see if it comes back, if it doesn’t, your ovaries have failed, I have another medication, but I really like your perspective. And I really like how your doctor suggested alternatives instead of just like acting like she had all the answers when she knows that she does. Right. And she did and Metformin and I still to this day have never done any research because I’m very into the holistic approach.
And I don’t want to take any medication. Absolutely not. If I can’t avoid it, I know it’s necessary. I’m a big fan of modern medicine. However, if there’s any way that I can avoid it, that’s kind of the route that I would prefer to take always. And that’s kind of how it started. We ran that blood work and she said,
okay, I’m going to give you this Instagram account, this dietician information. But she ended up providing a week later, which by that point I had already found you and it was a wrap, but You’re like, I lost three pounds. I’m good. I already Started this. But she said, okay, in three months, we’re going to run the tests again and then kind of see what treatment route we want to go from there.
But I was determined. Okay. I’m going to make some type of difference in this three months because I don’t want to get on any medication if I can help it. That’s awesome. You took Basketball too, Didn’t you? I did. I did. I started, as soon as I found your page, I just spent hours kind of just going through subscribe to the sisterhood.
Of course. And I just kind of spent hours just researching and kind of avoiding Google from that point on, because that kind of scares you like, oh, you’re never going to have children. You know, you’re getting here. It’s very overwhelming. So that’s definitely something I can recommend is just kind of finding a source like yourself, the best page I’ve seen by far and kind of just sticking with that and sticking to of course,
listening to your doctor, but really just finding someone that you trust their advice and kind of going from there. Did you hear about that sister who took Obasi tall and finally got her period after a year of not having one Credible. I see those kinds of messages on Instagram a lot. How does that even happen? Oh, FaceTime helps with healing, insulin resistance,
a common root issue that most PCFS sisters have. And by targeting insulin resistance, we’re seeing sisters kick those crazy cravings. Finally regulate their periods opulate and improve their ed quality. Each packet of opacity has a 40 to one ratio of myo-inositol and de Cairo in NASSA tol this ratio is similar to the ratio that should be found in the body. But with women like me who have PCO S this ratio is often imbalanced.
So taking Avast tall can be super effective in treating insulin resistance, starting from the root of the issue. So awesome. It tastes like nothing. So just warn me when you put it in a cup. So I don’t drink, You got it. BU check out the link in the description to get 15% off your order. So I immediately went gluten and dairy free,
probably the same night. I’m like, we’re starting with Yeah. And you go into like cold Turkey, like can one day. Absolutely. I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but I am. It’s just, it’s just, it’s a harder way of doing it really. Like when you do all at once, it can be more difficult on the person.
Whereas if you go like one step, like just gluten first and then dairy like one day at a time, but there’s not like right or wrong way. It’s just whatever works for you better. Yes, absolutely. And I know myself very well in that I can’t really do like cheese or dairy moderation. So for me personally, I was like, you know,
I just have to change it all at once because it’ll kind of spiral, I’ll have a piece of pizza and then I’ll want some ice cream and that, you know, so I’m like, no, just nothing, no gluten, no dairy. And within that first week I was down five pounds And I immediately felt better. I mean, I had terrible acne,
like to start the process and you didn’t obviously start clearing up in a week, but I felt less bloated. And I hadn’t pulled out my scale in so long because I knew I wasn’t losing the weight, but you just have that feeling and you start to feel better. I got on the scale and immediately I was like, okay, this, this is working.
This is a miracle. This is that motivation. I needed to kind of get that. After you lost five pounds in a week, what was the rate of your weight loss after that? Was it like one pound a week after that? Or it’s still like two, three? No, Let’s see. It was at least two or three. That’s amazing.
That’s great. It’s so great. How it’s affecting your body going gluten and dairy free. It really reduces that insulin level. And as a result, your body kind of is in fat burning mode when it needs to be in between meals. Cause your insulin levels are low not to get too scientific right now, but it’s just great how these results are from healing,
the root issues of your PCLs and not just like hiding calories and like, okay, I lost some weight, but then like you eat it again and it’s back, you know? Yeah. And the other thing, the other thing to consider too, is like what you said, like you start to feel better. So that made you want to check the scale.
Like the first part is the most important Starlight part is like, you felt better and that gave you like a much more like positive signal to your brain. And now you’re feeling better just overall, like from the get-go. So I think that’s a really good thing to highlight too. Yeah. Because people start diets all the time and it makes them feel so miserable.
And then how are you going to sustain that forever? Like, even if it’s helping you lose weight, you know what I mean? You can’t because PCs is a forever thing. So if you feel good, that is the sign that it’s working. Whether or not the scale goes down in that instant, like something is working there, You mentioned diets.
I felt like I tried a few things. I’m not a fan of fad diets at all, because like you mentioned, it’s just not sustainable and I’ve done keto before. And I just, that was miserable experience. Of course I lost weight, but the minute I picked up a slice of bread, which I now know is because I had PCLs I gained all the weight back and I was thinking,
okay, well that’s silly. Like I spent months eating a certain way and feeling kind of crappy. And now, you know, I feel like it was for nothing and that’s not sustainable in my opinion, cutting calories. Also, not my thing. I haven’t done that. So that hasn’t been my experience. I eat every meal, I don’t skip meals.
I’ve strictly cut gluten and dairy. And I started taking Watts. So when I heard that the high intensity workouts were hurting me, that was fantastic news. I hate to run. It’s like, why do we do the things we hate so much? It’s not helping us. How was that like for you making that change from like the high intensity to lower intensity?
Like, were you like, did you start to question yourself if this was a good workout? Cause I think a lot of people they get addicted or they think that the only way to lose weight is by Agilon sweating hard. But did you have trouble with that transition? I did. And then beginning, because as I mentioned, I’ve always been pretty athletic.
I played sports and that’s your stereotypical good workout. If right now you’re playing, you’re panting. You’re sore. So of course at first I’m thinking, okay, like a slow 15 to 30 minute walk around my neighborhood. Like, what’s that doing for me? But I was so desperate and just ready to try whatever that I was like, you know,
what, what, what is it going to hurt? I’ve cut gluten and dairy. Why not throw in these Watts? And so we started doing that has been about three to five times a week and it made all of the difference. I think it just kind of helps with the weight loss and feeling better and getting better sleep. It’s all kind of a nice package.
It’s almost like a meditation, like just doing the, at the end of the workout because it’s such a nice pace. You’re relaxed, Right? Exactly. You can totally Sleep better. You’re like so relaxed afterwards, You know, it doesn’t take 45 minutes to recover from a nice walk. Like it did my hit workouts Along with gluten and dairy-free and doing different kinds of workouts.
What other changes did you feel really added on to the benefits you saw? I, I drink a lot of water. I waking CBD mints before bed really assisted with getting great quality sleep. I’ve been sleeping great. Like I mentioned, my cycle has returned and it’s been normal and that not only has it been consistent and showing up every month, it’s been consistent in the days and I’ve never experienced that,
like to the day almost it’s regulated. And that it’s amazing to me how that works and how quickly some medical professionals are to kind of just shove medication at you. But it’s like these small, difficult at first changes that you make and your body just respond so positively. And I wish, I wish everyone could kind of have access to your page and see it,
see your page and subscribe to the sisterhood because it really, really the information you guys are providing is really priceless. Thank you. Thank you so much. It almost sounds magical. How, like, after you got off of birth control, then you weren’t getting your periods for a minute and then you were finally able to get your periods back and then they,
and then even on top of that, you were able to get them like perfectly other days, like sinked up, which is like an amazing thing because when your days are sinked up 28 day cycles, that’s like Very good side. Yeah. You just got an a plus. And not only that they weren’t as painful or it just seemed like it was just an experience I’ve never experienced before,
even before birth. That’s the reason I got on birth control in the first place is because awful. And I just wish like, especially young people, young women knew, you know, think of these things. You know, I wish this was explained before pushing birth control, you know, place, but I just wish this information was kind of available instead of birth control as just an end all be all.
And first option A hundred percent. Yeah. I’m guessing you were prescribed birth control like in your teens. And a lot of people are prescribed at that time and they’re not told anything and it’s such a normal thing when you’re at that age, it’s like, almost like everyone is taking birth control. And of course you’re thinking about like contraception reasons as well.
So it’s like all this stuff happening, but no one tells you, oh, by the way, this doesn’t give you a real period. Instead you get a synthetic plead. It’s basically a cocktail of hormones. Like no one tells you all this stuff. So like, that’s like one of the very disappointing aspects I believe of like, you know, like just the medical field is not fully explaining birth control to women out there.
I completely agree. And I feel like now that there’s Instagram and everyone’s just like reaches for their phone for answers. Luckily, you know, there’s Instagram, you can find some great resources, including our page and lots of free content. Every caption is like thoroughly written out, explaining like what the post is about. It’s enough for you to at least get started on reversing your symptoms and seeing how you feel Even with birth control.
Like we have a whole section in the sisterhood where we talk about birth control, like the warnings, what you should know before you start taking it and what to do if you are taking it. And if you want to continue it. So Yeah. How to get off, if you want to get off how to stay on, if you want to stay on And to touch on what you said,
just about the synthetic lead of the period. And depending on that birth control that you take, sometimes you won’t even get a period at all. So I feel like you’re even more concerned coming off of it, like, okay, is this normal? Should this return right away? Just so many questions. Luckily I had a really great doctor, but I’ve spoken to a lot of women who weren’t fortunate enough to have a doctor who gave them any advice other than lose weight.
It’s like, okay, great. As if I haven’t been trying not thank you for that. It was only that easy, right? Like seriously only I could just eat salad and Lose weight. And then you had mentioned that you were going to get like a, like a checkup three months after, have you had that checkup yet? Or is that still in the future?
Yes, I have an actually everything. My hormone levels have cleared up drastic. Wow. Thank you. And it’s nice because I kind of get to see the results side by side. That’s just kind of a personal Testament to how diligent I’ve been. And that just makes I continue, you know, especially with the holidays coming up on, I continue to kind of stick with this journey because it is doable.
It’s not a fad diet. It’s not something that’s unattainable. And that I need to say, okay, I’m just going to quit for just, you know, a couple of days and then get back to it. No, it’s something that I can sustain. And that is like, that’s something to be really proud of. You should be like bragging about it to everyone.
Yeah. That’s amazing. Awesome. Well, Gloria, as the last portion of the podcast, is there anything you’d like to say to other color sisters who may be newly diagnosed or going through a similar experience as you? Is there any like, like a sentence or any set of words you want to give out to them to inspire them? I would just say,
to ask a lot of questions of your medical professional, your OB GYN, and don’t let anyone make you feel as though you’re crazy because you have these goals or you feel like you don’t look like yourself or you’re not feeling good. And regardless of whether or not people tell you, oh, you look fine. I know that’s something. We tend to get a lot like,
oh, what are you talking about? Or that’s happy weight or relationship with, you know, your body. And if something is off, ask questions of the medical professionals, seek those resources with the gluten and dairy free. I think you can do anything for 30 days. I’m a firm believer that anyone can do anything for 30 days, whether or not you’re someone who does things cold Turkey like myself,
or like sit back in town. We’re saying you’re someone who needs to do it little by little. You owe it to yourself to try, in my opinion and the differences you’ll see from your skin to your menstrual cycle, to bloating, to weight loss, it will make all the difference and it will be worth it. And it will give you the motivation you need to keep going.
Oh man, I love this. I love it. I love it. Especially your first one, which is ask questions. Like I think a lot of times anyone, when you go to any like, quote unquote expert, you immediately just like, shut down. You just take what they tell you and you just walk away feeling like no one helped you.
But just pushing, just asking question after it’s just like ask every single question that you have, get all the answers you have and you’ll feel so much better once you have them. That’s a great point. Yes. And it is intimidating, but just know that that’s your right to ask those questions as intimidating may be that. Right. So Yeah, it is.
You’re right. Your appointment. Yeah. You’re paying for it. Yeah. Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much, Gloria, for being on this podcast, stay with us as we sign officers so we can talk after this podcast, but thank you so much for being on here. It’s just so inspirational for a lot of sisters who are going through the same exact experience as you.
So I think many of them will listen to this and afterwards, feel just motivated and inspired to be able to do the same. So thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you guys for having me. I really appreciate it. Oh, absolutely. It’s our pleasure. Thank you sisters. For listening to this week’s episode, we’ll be back next week with another one until then take care and have a good week.
Bye. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, you have to come check out the sisterhood. It’s my monthly membership site, where sisters just like you are learning how to move through the stages of PCO S from Sage one cold and alone at the doctor’s office to stage five, nailing the PCs lifestyle, gluten and dairy free. Get ready to finally feel in control of your body.
