What was so effective for me about how you presented the information was that you gave a lot of the why behind it, not just donate gluten, but if you eliminate gluten, these are the things that might improve in your body and like on a cellular level. And that just made sense to me. And I also feel like the way that you presented the information was very empowering rather than restricting.
It’s like, you can do this. And even if you have days off, don’t beat yourself up. Don’t let that keep you from continuing. Just shrug it off and move on. my own hands and stem naturally. Welcome everyone to another episode of a sister and her Mister today, we have Victoria with us. She is a fellow sister from the sisterhood who lost 30 pounds with the PCs weight loss method.
So we can’t wait to share with you her journey. Welcome Victoria. Hi, thank you guys for having me. I’m so excited to chat with you guys. Oh, we are too. We are too. I haven’t forgotten about our conversation that we had on Instagram live. It was really fun just to talk about your journey. And also when you said that my speech has gotten better over the last couple of years,
which I don’t know. Sometimes I think I’m going backwards, but just to hear you say that it, it gave me some confidence. Oh yeah. It’s definitely improving for sure. Practice makes perfect All these episodes that you’ve done, you know, it’s really improved. So there’s a hard part. Is that when we’re tired, I feel like that’s when I take a step back because I just start mumbling and stuff,
especially like ever since I quit caffeine for me, it’s been like hard to like talk as fast without mumbling, but you know, like you said, I’m getting there. Yeah, For sure. So tell us Victoria, start from the beginning of your diagnosis and what it felt like being diagnosed, what you were told and how you got to this point today,
where you’re just thriving with PCLs, you’re such an inspiration. And so many women are listening right now and they’re on the journey that maybe they’re frustrated, maybe they’re going through it. And it seems like there’s no end in sight somehow, sometimes, but there is so sure. I think we could take it like piece by piece. Let’s start with the diagnosis and we’ll get more into like what you did and then things like that.
Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. And I totally understand that sisters that are listening that are frustrated and feel like there’s no end in sight, but there’s definitely hope there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And that’s what Tony and has showed me. And that’s what so many other women in the sisterhood has shown. So my journey started really,
I was around 18 and that’s when I was diagnosed with PCLs the symptoms that led to that diagnosis were primarily an irregular cycle. So I would go sometimes 2, 3, 4 months without getting a period. I also was experiencing significant hair loss, like even in high school. And my mom was the one that noticed it. I thought everybody lost hair in the shower, but she was like,
that’s a lot. I mean, I have two older sisters and they didn’t experience that type of hair loss. So she was the one that was concerned and was like, we should go to the doctor. And so when I was diagnosed, it was based on blood work because I do remember I saw an endocrinologist. This is over 10 years ago. So I’m trying to remember.
I also did get an ultrasound that showed polycystic ovaries as well. So with all those things combined, that’s how I was diagnosed. And at that time, the recommendation was just go on birth control to regulate your cycle and come back when you want to get pregnant. And we’ll see you at the fertility clinic because you’re going to need fertility treatment. They just stated that as a fact,
and they, they did share, I remember the doctor said, the only thing you can really do is diet and exercise, but I wasn’t really told what that means or what that looks like or how it would directly impact my symptoms. There was no really direction given. And so at that age, I interpreted diet and exercise with air quotes to mean there was nothing that we could do.
And I’m sure that also meant like some sort of like extreme changes, like eating less or working out really hard. It wasn’t like in a direction where, you know, a diet and exercise should be done to treat the root issues of like maybe insulin resistance or metabolism or your cortisol hormones. Like there’s like so many, You can go in so many directions,
you can go in the direction of healing, your metabolism or breaking it, you know, at the same time as trying to lose weight. And when you had irregular periods, did you think that maybe there was like something else happening or were you like initially led to believe that all it may be is just normal, like at your age or to the doctor?
Just like, kind of like push it aside. I mean, I wasn’t concerned about the irregular cycles. It was like I said, my mom, that was like, you know, that’s not really typical again. Cause she had two older daughters to compare. I think the doctors were responsive enough to say, okay, once they’ve put two and two together with the symptoms I listed,
it was pretty clear. They just needed the diagnostic imaging and lab work to confirm the diagnosis. But something that I’ve learned since then is that in adolescence and teenage years, it’s not uncommon to have irregular cycles in hindsight. It’s not something that we needed to slap birth control on right away. But that’s just the approach that was taken at the time. That is so true.
You know, you have to give your body a chance to regulate your period. And I’m not sure exactly what age that is, but it’s definitely not 16. Yeah, For sure. So after that for several years I ignored my PCLs and I lived my best college and grad school wise, the culture of college is just a lot of alcohol caffeine and not very much sleep Like everybody else.
I feel that way. Yeah, totally. Exactly. So that’s just kind of how I was living my life and I wasn’t, I didn’t even attempt to change my diet and lifestyle. Like it just seemed like something I could not, I was just not capable of. I mean, I will share I’m Puerto Rican. We eat a lot of rice and beans and fried food.
Like I didn’t grow up on a super vegetable, rich diet. And so I, it just seemed like it wasn’t, for me, it seemed like guiding lifestyle to me because it wasn’t explained much. It didn’t seem like it would really fix anything. I just felt like there was a saying that to be like, well, you could try that and see how it goes.
Cause those, those words that you use, like metabolism, cortisol, insulin resistance, they weren’t even used in my appointment. So there seemed to be no reason for me to change my diet. So I just kept going about my business, how I’m, how I was. Yeah. If it doesn’t make sense, then it’s hard to do. If you don’t understand PCLs then it’s hard to manage it or it just seems unmanageable.
Yeah. You’re just like, ah, diet and lifestyle. Like whatever that means, Drink more water And things off as so difficult. Like to just focus on diet and lifestyle. It’s like a very difficult thing to hone in on and find Out. Exactly. Yeah. Especially in college, like you were saying, like there’s alcohol, there’s caffeine, a lot of sleepless nights,
just, it’s such a normal thing in college that you don’t even tell yourself. Okay, I should not do this because everyone around you is doing so you just want to be doing what your friends are doing or you want to just live that college lifestyle. Yeah. You can just ignore your PCLs and be like, I’m not, I don’t have this problem and do everything everyone else is doing.
And then it just gets worse and worse. True. Because part of my PCLs was also some anxiety. So the whole mystery behind what this guide and lifestyle mean, like it seems like such a big thing for me to try to figure out on my own. And so I, out of like fear, I was just like, well, I’m not going to worry about that.
But fast forward to summer 2020, I was a newlywed. And I was wanting to prepare for eventually having a family. So I started doing more research and that’s when I came across your page. Thankfully. So it’s actually almost been two years now since then This about two years ago. Yes. And around that time, that’s when I joined the sisterhood.
And it’s so funny actually, now that I’m telling this story, because all of this sounded so hard to me until I came across you guys. So when I came across the sisterhood, I immediately went cold Turkey. I know that’s not for everybody, but I eliminated gluten and dairy and caffeine. I started taking all that, the tall and I switched from orange theory to Pilates.
And I think what was so effective for me about how you presented the information was that you gave a lot of the why behind it, not just donate gluten, but if you eliminate gluten, these are the things that might improve in your body and a site like on a cellular level. And that just made sense to me. And I also feel like the way that you presented the information was very empowering rather than restricting.
It’s like, you can do this. And even if you have days off, don’t beat yourself up. Don’t let that keep you from continuing, just, you know, shrug it off and move on. Like you just had like that approach to it. And I really related to that because I can be someone who beats myself up and you were saying,
you don’t have to do that. And so that was just really powerful for me. And I think that’s why after so long of not doing anything, I was able to make a lot of changes in a pretty short amount of time, because I felt empowered to be able to do so and no other provider had given me that empowerment before or that education before.
That’s awesome. I’m so happy to hear that. Honestly, that’s exactly what we envisioned will be made. The sisterhood is to empower women like cute empower people. Because the only reason we created the sisterhood was to provide a resource, a hub for, for that exact reason. Cause so many people like including Tallinn in her journey, like she felt ignored.
She felt like the doctor didn’t give her, give her enough information for year. Like at least, at least for one year you were like kind of blind, right? In terms of like what to do Blind and overwhelmed. Like initially I was told to approach it like so restrictively and for me, like I can’t do that. Like life is life.
You’re going to go somewhere. You’re going to have a bite of something that all that restriction and stress around eating is like not how I wanted to proceed for the rest of my life. So how was I going to figure this out? You know, cooking, delicious food, exploring the gluten and dairy free options. It’s not restrictive where you’re cutting out,
like all your carbs. And then, you know, you have the replacement, like that’s restrictive, you’re just replacing things. And then in instances where you can’t and you’re just like kind of cornered and you’re with family or friends and there’s no options, okay. Like, you know, relax, it’s, it’s going to be fine, like prepare next time.
And you know, don’t starve yourself just because if no option there. So that relaxed approach really helped me be able to do it. Long-term and even now, while we’re in Spain, Can you gave tips, like you mentioned going to a gathering with family and friends, like bringing a dish that you can eat that’s gluten and dairy free or something that I really ran with was like always had an RX bar in your purse.
Those were lifesavers. Just like little tips that you gave to set yourself up for success for very helpful to me. Oh yeah. I mean, it’s those little things, right? Like sometimes it’s those little things that you need those just like, like having an RX bar in your purse or having like, like preparing ahead of time, it kind of sets you up for more success and then it kind of sets you up for not feeling down on yourself when you have to resort to something else,
which you don’t have to feel bad, but it’s just like, it’s just a great way to just avoid those things. Remember how many RX bars I took with us? Oh my God. Yeah. A whole luggage, like at least like 20 RX bar out by the end of the Trip, By the end of the trip, I was sick of our experience now.
I mean, they have so many flavors though, so that’s a good thing. Yeah. Especially when you’re on a vacation with other people and you don’t want to be like an inconvenience and like insist on like whatever, like gluten and dairy free restaurants, let’s say, or, or maybe like, you’re just not eating all day. And people are like nibbling on random things and like doing activities until dinner time.
It’s good to have something in your purse or you’re not starving. Yeah. And I think knowledge is such power too, because you mentioned taking little bites of things here and there. Like Mac and cheese was like the love of my life and my husband doesn’t completely eat gluten and dairy free. So I will still take a couple bites of his macaroni and like,
it makes me so happy, but it’s just a matter of knowing that I can’t eat a whole bowl of that or I’m going to feel terrible. And so you can, you can make the decisions, day-to-day yourself, of what you’re going to put in your body as long as you know, what’s going to happen when you do that. And so, Victoria,
I forgot. Where are you? Based off of, I know you’re from Porter, like you’re Puerto Rican, but where are you living? Where in the Dallas area Or Dallas, I was gonna say, if you were in like in the LA California area, there’s a great restaurant that does a gluten and dairy-free Mac and cheese for anyone listening. It’s called the misfit.
If you remember, we went there for a date and they make one of the best like Mac and cheeses in the world and it’s gluten dairy free. Yeah. Oh, well, when I, when I visit the west coast, I’ll have to check that place out. Did you hear about that sister who took opacity toll and finally got her period after a year of not having one?
Incredible. I see those kinds of messages on Instagram a lot. How does that even happen? Well, Obasanjo helps with healing, insulin resistance, a common root issue that most Pecos 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 opacities has a 40 to one ratio of myo-inositol and de Cairo.
And NASSA tol this ratio is similar to the ratio that should be found in the body. But with women like me who have PCOM, this ratio is often imbalanced. So taking OBS 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 it. You got it. BU check out the link in the description to get 15% off your order. What were some of the changes you were making and how did you start to see like some of the benefits? How Soon did you see the benefits Girl? After a few days I was in your DNA. And this is when I remember as establishing that there’s no TMI because I was telling you that it took me only a few days to reverse.
What I hadn’t even realized was chronic constipation. That was a quick change, that quick improvement that I saw, but I also saw improvement in like chronic fatigue and brain fog. I realized because of the information that you share, that the reason why I was so dependent on caffeine and running to the coffee maker at two and 3:00 PM every day was because of my hormones and my adrenals.
Not just because I loved coffee, but there was a bigger reason for that. And so I noticed that ironically, which, you know, it’s so crazy to me, but eliminating caffeine gave me more energy and you know, that’s not what one would think, but after I was educated, I, and I, and then I was able to see that from experience.
And I’m a pediatric speech therapist. So I work with kids that are very high energy. A lot of them have special needs cause that’s why they’re seeing me. And so they have to chase them around. And I just noticed that I, I was able to do my job better. I had better problem solving during my therapy sessions. I was in therapy sessions with my kids,
thinking of new ideas of what we could do in future sessions, rather than operating on survival mode all the time. I was just like, let me get through the end of this day. It was, it was night and day and it, it didn’t take, but a few weeks for me to see that improvement, It is so worth going gluten and dairy free for 30 days.
Just to see how you feel. We say this all the time. Everyone’s like, not everyone has to be gluten and David, listen, not everyone has to be, but try it because if that’s the results after just two weeks, you know, With caffeine too, especially like everyone always like is kind of like surprised, like you mentioned, like,
oh, like when you quit caffeine, it can actually give you some more energy. I think with caffeine, what it does, it gives you like spurts of energy, like a rollercoaster. So you spike and then you, like in 30 minutes or an hour, you start to crash, even feeling worse. And I think when you quit caffeine, it gives you like a,
like a steady level of like energy throughout the day, which is what we all really want. Yeah. Yeah. You give your body an opportunity to create natural energy. You know, you’re not overstimulating your stress hormones. They’re not crashing afterwards. And then you’re not overstimulating them again and then crashing and then having poor quality sleep. And then the next day it’s even worse and it just compiles compose compiles.
And now you’re just running on fumes. Yeah. And does it even mean like everyone has to go caffeine free? It’s just like, just look at your day. Like, do you need to have caffeine throughout the day or maybe just the morning is okay. And then the rest of the day, you can be fine without it. But I want to ask you what,
with the constipation do you think that had to do with like the gluten or was it like something else that could help relieve the constipation for you? It’s hard to say if it was gluten or dairy, because I eliminated them both at the same time, but I think it was a combination of both. Well, cause I guess now when I eat gluten,
it’s more of just bloating. So I think actually I would attribute the constipation more to dairy, but it didn’t take long after eliminating Gary for that to change. I became very regular, real quick. And I mean, something that I learned from you too, is that that’s a form of toxic estrogen for your body. Many of us women with PCOS are estrogen dominant as I am.
I mean, I still have a bit of estrogen dominance, but I can only imagine how bad it was at that time. If I was so irregular and constipated all the time and how that had a direct impact on all my other symptoms, it’s such a domino. And I love what you said. Cause I actually was going to say the same thing,
but on Instagram, in the PCLs space, there’s so many people that are like, not everyone has to eliminate gluten, but I want to emphasize what you said, which is like, the proof is in the pudding. Like if you try it and you realize that you cannot live without gluten, then you learn something. If you eliminate it and you realize that you’re a different person in a good way without gluten,
then you also learn something. And again, it just goes back to knowledge is power. You never know how much it will impact you to make some of these changes unless you try it out. And if you always say, if it’s not for you, then slowly re-introduce it back. And then it’s just more knowledge, body literacy, right? You’re learning what your body can take and what it can.
And that’s up to you. It’s not up to anybody on Instagram. It’s up to you to figure that out for yourself. I love that body literacy for sure. You know, people usually wait for like food sensitivity tests or blood work to dictate. What’s what, and what’s happening. But only, you know, sometimes the sensitivity tests won’t pick it up.
Won’t, you know, maybe you get bloated from these foods and the sensitivity test says you’re not sensitive, but you’re bloated, right? Like you wouldn’t know, unless you tried. I had a physician recommend a pretty expensive food sensitivity tests, but said I was not sensitive to anything except maybe beans, which is this random white beam. And it was like,
I spent my money on that. And then I continued eating gluten on there after that. I mean, that was before I encountered you guys, but you’re so right. That some of these tests aren’t testing what you think they’re testing. Oh yeah. They’re not very accurate. It’s actually being talked about a lot recently that food sensitivity tests are not very accurate actually showing what you’re sensitive to.
Yeah. I mean, it’s worth a try if you’ve cut out gluten and dairy and you didn’t see a difference. Like I, I still think some food sensitivity tests are okay, but yeah, they won’t pick up everything and you should still try it for 30 days just to see. Yeah. Right. Try it without taking all these tests. But some of the other changes that I noticed was definitely improved mood.
I was really anxious and I honestly have a lot of mood swings. I would get irritated really easily. That improved a lot when I eliminated those beings. And another TMI is my libido was quite improved after making those changes as well. Most significantly to me was that I, my average cycle length was about 70 days before I made all of these changes.
After about six months, it decreased to 45 days. So that was a pretty quick change because it takes a while for your body to respond. But six months is not that long. But then so like I said, that’s been almost two years now. And my average cycle length is about 32 days, which falls within the normal range. And this is the first time in my life since adolescents,
that my cycle is within the normal range. You did. Yeah. That’s such a great sign of like your body functioning and like the hormones being imbalanced. Like I feel for a lot of people say, or a lot of doctors say like your period cycle is a great, it’s a, one of the vital signs of your health. That means everything you’re doing is working and you’re thriving.
Yes, totally. And it’s within our power to make those changes. It does take time because you know, it didn’t happen overnight. So it does take, you know, consistency and just being really gentle with yourself, but it can definitely be done for sure. Yeah. Yeah. We’re also really happy to hear that you’re deciding to go into women’s health as well,
to educate others and kind of like spread the awareness that you’ve learned. Yes. I would love to share what led me to that. Y’all y’all know I can talk. So it’s kind of a long story, but Around the time I joined the sister head, I went to, so this was a while back around that time, I went to go see my OB to let them know that we were trying to conceive and we technically were not.
But most doctors require you to say that you’ve been trying for a year before they look into your hormones. So I kind of wanted to get a headstart on that from the doctor’s perspective and say that we were trying, so that would, they would basically take me seriously. But I was told that at that time, because my cycles were 45 days in length that there was no way I was ovulating.
I still have screenshots of these portal messages from the doctor because I was triggered. But he said, there’s no way you’re ovulating. And they immediately prescribed Clomid, which is an ovulation medication that they start with. And if you’re familiar with the fertility space, often Clomid is the first step. And then they do that for a few cycles. And then if you don’t conceive them,
they’ll move on to either another medication or they’ll do IUI for a few cycles. And then if that doesn’t work, you go to IVs. So it’s kind of like, I mean, not every practice is like this, but it’s like a fast track or a, not a fast track, but it’s the path towards utility treatment starts with Clomid nine times out of 10.
And at that time I was reading the period repair by Dr. Lara Briden, because she had been featured on your podcast. And I had been learning that oblation can take place later in the cycle. If your cycle is 45 days in length, you’re probably ovulating two weeks before you get your period. And so I, I asked this practice about that.
I was like, well, my cycles are long. Maybe I’m just ovulating later in the cycle. And they said, no, that’s not possible. And so I decided not to go back to that doctor, but she was obviously wrong because only a couple months later, we actually conceived by surprise. So that was evidence that I do. Opulate unfortunately we did lose that pregnancy pretty early,
but I’ve learned a lot since then about the importance of progesterone, especially with PCLs, but really in pregnancy in general, progesterone is really important to monitor, to prevent miscarriage and make sure that you can sustain your pregnancy. But the reason that relates back to your question is because I was told by a board certified OB GYN that you can’t obviate later in the cycle.
And that is mind blowing to me that I was given such significant misinformation and going back to body literacy, I was able to decide not to pursue the treatment this doctor was recommending because I had some body literacy of knowing that I could be ovulating later in the cycle. I was empowered with that knowledge that another person in my shoes might not have had and could have easily gone down the path of IVF.
And I want to make it clear that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with IVF. I don’t think my sister would mind me sharing that. I have a precious IVs nephew, but that also means I’ve seen firsthand how hard it can be on a person and a couple to go through IVF and how expensive it is. And the fact that it was just kind of thrown out there that I should start fertility treatment without looking into anything deeper.
Like nobody asked me, why are your cycles? 45 days? What can we do about decreasing our cycling that was never addressed? And so at this point, I’m just really passionate about threading the news. Like I want to start it from the mountain top that not every cycle is 28 days long. Not every woman ovulates on day 14, because most doctors will test your progesterone on day 21 of your cycle.
That’s what this doctor did for me, because according to how they’re trained everybody, ovulates on day 14 and your progesterone is going to peak on day 21. And that’s when they’re going to take your blood. And they’re going to say, oh, there’s no progesterone. You did not ovulate you. Don’t ovulate. That’s exactly what happened to me. But I knew that that lab test was just timed incorrectly and they should have been testing it closer to two weeks before my period was expected.
Exactly. And so I, I just, I get a little bit of righteous anger because I think about how many other women are being seen at this practice that are being told this false information. And so what I am interested in pursuing at this time is becoming a fertility awareness educator and teaching women how to chart their cycles based on signs of fertility, such as cervical fluid,
basal body temperature. Because I am charting my cycle now in a way that I can tell you what day I opulate. So no doctor can tell me that I don’t or when I ovulate, because I have that information based on objective data that I’m tracking every single day. And it goes back to the mantra that knowledge is power. Any woman can learn how to do this and be empowered in a doctor’s office to say that they’re the ones providing the doctor with information about their bodies and not the other way around.
Yes. I totally agree with that. Like the righteous anger that you have, and like, especially like knowing that so many women could be told that wrong information that you were told, but unfortunately how, like so many of them could like maybe not continue to look into the root issue and see if they can reduce their cycle and to just be pushed into IVF.
Like, Because they’re so vulnerable, like it’s such a vulnerable time, you know, while you’re trying to conceive and you’re learning new things about your body, you didn’t know, and it’s scaring you and then, you know, like, and you put all your trust into healthcare professionals, all of your trust, blindly following them because you’re so, you know,
vulnerable and desperate for this outcome of having a baby understandable. But it’s at the same time. Like if you ha, if you can just take a step back and think about your body, think about getting literate about your body and figuring it out a little bit deeper before choosing the IVF route, because that’s a, that’s a great option too. But like before you choose that route,
like you said, it’s so expensive. And, and so, and it’s so difficult. There are so many other things you can do. Yeah. So I think it also shows, I guess, just a shout out to you, like how much of a great person you are a big heart, you have to like want to go into being like a fertility educator or just a woman’s health educator,
because you want what you learn others to learn too, because I feel a lot of people just because life is so busy and totally understandable. If you just like move on with the information you learn, but you’re, you really want to stop and you just want to spread that knowledge. So I think it’s a big, a big round of applause to you on that.
Thank you. I appreciate that. And the, I think the reason why I love the idea of being able to do that is not because I want to help women with PCLs conceive. I mean, that’s a beautiful thing, of course, but I want to reach the people before they even get to that point. Like, imagine if you knew what your cycle looks like,
and when you ovulate it way before you were even considering trying to conceive. Now, imagine how much easier that journey is going to be for you when you get there. So it’s almost coming from a place of like, I wish somebody told me this at 18, instead of telling me that I inevitably needed fertility treatment. And I think that just even teenagers or young women learning this information about themselves,
I just think about the, the heartache that could be saved. Just learning about your own body, A hundred percent, a hundred percent I’m with you. I feel the same way. And the same thing drives me as well. So I see that in you and I think it’s great. You’re going to go far and help so many women. Yeah.
You’ve definitely been a huge inspiration to me. So I appreciate that. And when you do complete your education or whenever you’re ready, please let us know. We’d love to like spread your platforms or even have you on the podcast as a, now an expert in that field. I think that’d be a great, great thing to do. And, but yeah,
like totally, I think it should be something that should be spread. Like the education should be spread when at a young age, you know, like when, when women are teenagers or even younger, like stuff that should be made more aware of Only at 16, we knew something about our body and some literacy about our periods or fertility and how important it is to care.
Even if you don’t want to get pregnant, you know, maybe we wouldn’t have chosen birth control. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. That’s so true because there’s so many other benefits to your body and your health of ovulation besides just conceiving. And that’s another reason why I want to spread that message too, because like we know that progesterone impacts bone density. So if you are on birth control on,
you’re not ovulating, or if you are a really severe case of PCLs and you can go a year without cycling, you’re not producing any projector on during that time, because progesterone is only produced after ovulation. And so you are at risk for like early arthritis, osteoporosis. Those are the things that doctors are not sharing. That’s another reason why I’m passionate about that too,
because I want people to know whether you’re trying to conceive or not, your cycle help matters. And like Xerox said, at the beginning of the episode, like it’s being recognized as a fifth vital sign as a report card to your overall health. And I’m glad that it’s starting to be called that and recognized as such, but I would love to be a part of getting that message out there to where it becomes common knowledge to everybody.
That period problems are not normal. They should be addressed. And it doesn’t just have to do with getting pregnant as many doctors approach it. I’m really grateful that I have a NaPro doctor now, and that stands for natural procreation. And that’s actually how I ended up starting charting my cycles using the fertility awareness method, because NaPro combines Western medicine and functional medicine.
And they actually require their patients to chart their cycles, using the Creighton method of cycle charting, which uses signs of fertility. And the doctor then uses that chart as a diagnostic tool, as well as a way to time your labs. So they’re looking at your individual cycle, literally as a report card. And they’re like, okay, well, during this time of the cycle,
you’re showing that you might have low progesterone or high estrogen, or they’re able to see based on the cycle, when each individual woman is operating, they’re not operating on everybody’s cycles every 28 days, but it’s very individualized. And then they can use that chart to time your labs. So I mentioned earlier how important it is to test certain hormones at specific points in your individual cycle.
And these doctors are very well-trained in being able to do that and have that individualized approach. So I would, I would encourage anybody who could find an, that pro doctor to do that if they can access one, because it’s been incredible for me, I’ve been able to start cyclical, bioidentical, progesterone treatment through that provider. And it’s just been a game changer for me.
When you have negative experiences with doctors and then you find a good one, it just makes you so much more grateful for that care that’s individualized. And that you’re feeling, Especially when you’re combining Western with a functional doctor, the word functional means so much to us because functional really looks at the body as a whole. And he gets really more specific down to like the levels and not just like,
you know, looking at it in like this wide, wide range, wide range, et cetera. So that’s a great, great option for anyone. Yes. Am I, my doctor is an OB GYN. Some NaPro doctors are family doctors and things. So you would want to decide if you have a preference between those, but she’s been MD OB GYN.
So she can still prescribe medication. If, if I got to the point where we were trying to conceive and we weren’t successful and I did need Clomid, I don’t have to go find a fertility treatment center. She can provide that, but she’s taking a lot of steps before we get to that point with supplement recommendations and vitamins and minerals and a anti-inflammatory diet and things like that.
But if we need to go there, we need to go there. So it’s really the best of both worlds. Yeah. I liked that best of both worlds. That’s really good. So before we end the podcast, Victoria, what are like, so to continue managing your PCs, is it just about for you at this point, consistency and just kind of like,
just be consistent, not putting a lot of pressure on yourself cause you’ve already seen what works. And is that more like how your mindset is to go forward? Yeah, definitely. I mean, I want to say to that since you asked me that it made me think about the fact that I did change a lot overnight, but I was still snacking,
a lot eating a lot of carbs. I wasn’t monitoring my carbs when I went gluten and dairy free. I was still eating some gluten cupcakes here and there. So it’s, it’s definitely still been a progression. And so that has changed too. So there’s, there’s always something that you can be looking at as far as, how could I improve this to answer your question?
It is definitely about maintenance for me right now, as far as like continuing to eat gluten and dairy free. I mean, that’s just come. So second nature to me now that it’s been almost two years, because I know how it feels when I have some gluten or dairy. Also just continuing to just be aware of all aspects of my health. Like including continuing to prioritize,
sleep, even just like continuing to prioritize dress management is something that I’ve also been inspired by from you guys, like making sure that I’m using meditation and, you know, seeing a therapist to help manage anxiety and things like that. And just understanding that real wellness is whole body wellness across all of your systems, like sleep and mood and food and, and you can’t do everything a hundred percent all of the time.
So there’s going to be times that maybe, you know, like last month, my, my birthday month was in February. I had, I had cake a few times, you know, a few times more than I would normally have. Exactly. And there’s times that your sleep isn’t where it needs to be. So I think it’s all about just giving yourself grace and understanding that you can’t do everything perfectly all the time.
There’s going to be times that your nutrition is great, but your sleep is poor and you just have to continue to give yourself grace. And that’s what I’m going to do. You know, I have all these things in place that I’ve been doing for so long, and I want to keep doing all of those things. But knowing that, you know,
there’s some give and take and there’s an 80 20 rule when it comes to those things is really important to me. That’s great. And that’s super important. It’s always good to layer on all the different components, one at a time, as you feel ready as you feel fit for it, because yeah. It just never ends like, Yeah, you’re always constantly adjusting The adapting yourself.
Yeah. Like I’m trying to sleep at 10 o’clock. I think of these things, it’s at the forefront of my attention that like, I need to do these things to take care of myself. So I can really like be at optimal health and maybe other people don’t have to think like that as much, but for me with PCOS, with my body and being literate of my body,
I know that that’s what I need to do. And so that’s great that you mentioned that so that people don’t think it just like ends at gluten dairy free and Abbas tall. Cause there’s so many other things in the sisterhood that we talk about that contribute A hundred percent and to be real, like I lost, I lost about 12 to 15 pounds within three months of joining the sisterhood.
So I did see a pretty quick loss there, but I did gain some of that back, you know? So now I can say I’ve lost almost 30 pounds, but it wasn’t just, I immediately lost 30 pounds and I stayed that way. There’s fluctuation with that. That is normal. And that is okay. And I actually posted something like that and the sisterhood,
and it was a long time ago, but I got so many responses to that because people were like, oh, thank you for saying that. Because a lot of people that are at the beginning of their journey, feel so much pressure to be on 100 perfect all the time. And it’s like, if you lose weight, that means you’re doing something well.
But if you’ve gained some of it back, that is okay, that’s telling you that your stress at that time, or you’re traveling at that time, or it was your birthday and you had three cupcakes that week or whatever. And that, I just want to normalize that and emphasize what Tallinn has always said, which is that it’s a lifestyle. This is not a diet.
It’s not a restriction. It’s just it’s knowledge that you’re giving your self to where if you gain five pounds, that’s knowledge and then you can do with that, which you want to do. Yeah, exactly. It’s always about two steps forward and there might be always one step back. It’s Tuesday. You’re always focusing on the lifestyle and it’s never like one,
like one shot straight up. There’s always going to be bumps along the way, but just consistency, focusing on lifestyle and focusing on the body literacy, like we said earlier a Hundred percent. Absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Victoria, for, for coming on the podcast today. We’d love to have you back on again in the future to talk about women’s health and just talk,
continue to talk about your journey. And it will always like, of course, keep in touch with you as, as you go through your journey as well in the sisterhood or just privately as well. Thank you so much for being on here. Thank you sisters, for listening to today’s episode. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.
It was such a pleasure. We’ll Talk to you soon. Bye-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 S from Sage one cold and alone at the doctor’s office to stage five, nailing the PCs lifestyle collusion,
and dairy-free get ready to finally feel in control of your body. Again,
