Interview with a Fellow Cyster Rebecca!

Well, we, we don’t drink that. It has Oh my God. What’s going to happen to me. Nothing. It’s a supplement for women with PCOS. I mix it with water and it doesn’t taste like anything. Oh, that Saul’s a special blend of inositols and it helps heal. My cravings, regulate my period and improve my mood. So don’t actually drink it.

Oh my God. I’m getting a period. No, it just helps with blood sugar control for many women with PCOS, like me, insulin resistance is one of the root issues underneath all these awful symptoms. Here’s how it works. Bape. When we eat, it’s broken down into sugar and the lovely insulin hormone takes that and gives it to ourselves to get burned up.

But when our cells are resistant, insulin is left, floating around in the bloodstream, making us think we’re still hungry, leading to awful cravings, not just that insulin triggers high testosterone, which affects my period and my mood. So I’m not getting my period. No, babe. You’re not. But I am. This episode is brought to you by pure spectrum CBD,

and I have been taking CBD and we are rolling. I’m holding the tincture right now. Pauline, can you open your mouth please? Yeah, I’m going to give you a dosage now. Keep it there for 60 seconds while she does that. Let me tell you the great benefits of CBD for PCO is studies show it reduces cortisol, improves insulin sensitivity,

reduces inflammation. You can go to pure spectrum cbd.com now to order and use the code. This sisterhood one word at checkout for 20% of Natale and hold it for 30 seconds longer. While the sisters enjoy the show. Welcome to a sister and her mr. A podcast where we show you the real behind the scenes of how we balance the PCRs lifestyle in our marriage,

gluten and dairy free. I’m telling your fellow sister and registered dietician And I’m celiac husband, engineer, and PCO personal trainer. We’re going to make PSUs a little less overwhelming and a lot more fun. Welcome everybody to a new episode of a sister and her. We are so excited to bring you this episode because we are interviewing a sister. Yeah, Yes.

A fellow sister, just like you, who was recently diagnosed with PCs about six months ago. And she highlights her journey going to the doctor’s office, being prescribed, birth control and many other things and how she found us and was able to manage her piece us And lose 25 pounds. Okay. The process. Yeah. Yeah. Her name is Rebecca and she is a fellow sister in our,

in the sisterhood that we have. And you know, we love talking to her. She’s great. And you’ll hear the conversation right now that we’re going to go ahead and play for you, that we had So uplifting, so motivational and relatable to so many sisters out there. You’re going to love it. Yes. And there are any other sisters who want to share their journey with us.

Maybe you want, uh, you want to join us on a podcast like Rebecca, please feel free to reach out message us on or email. Um, and no, we’ll see how we can set up a podcast episode just for you. Exactly. And before we go on to the interview, we have a very special, a bit of news. Some of you may or may already know,

but we have a PCO as hotline, hotline bullying. That’s right. Just like Drake. We have a hotline for you to go ahead and call us. The phone number is one eight three three, ask PCO S that’s one eight, three, three, ask PCO S and feel free to leave your questions, leave a success story, maybe how we’ve helped you and anything you want.

And we want to basically play that on the podcast, on the Instagram, your questions or your, your success stories to motivate others and inspire other sisters to, you know, following your steps. Exactly. So give us a call one eight, three, three, ask PCON That’s right. I mean, we should maybe tell them what the number is too.

Let me see. I have to dial it. Instagram story today. And Sudan was like dancing to hotline bling in the background. That’s true. That is true. Okay. The phone number is +1 833-275-7267. So that’s spells one eight three, three, ask piece us. So call us and we’ll listen to your voicemail. And now our interview with our fellow sister,

Rebecca. Hi Rebecca. Thank you so much for joining us. We’re so happy to have you on the podcast. So before we get started and get into all the details about your PCs friendly lifestyle, I think the listeners would love to hear about what it was like for you to first get diagnosed and how you got through that to finally reach us and start transforming your life.

Sure. Well, first of all, thank you both so much for having me today. It’s a pleasure to just be chatting with you guys. So I really appreciate the opportunity and everything that you guys have done for me throughout my TCOs journey so far. So I’d like to start there. Um, but I was recently diagnosed with PCs at the end of January of this year.

Oh, that’s only six months, quite the surprise. I really wasn’t expecting it at all. I just went into my normal guy dyno for my annual appointment, and she suggested that we do blood work cause it had been awhile since I’d been into the doctor. And um, so we figured why not just do a really thorough check in? So that’s what we did.

And when my blood work came back, a couple of my levels were high. Um, so my triglycerides were a little bit high. Um, my insulin was also slightly high and then my testosterone as well was looking a little abnormal. So they suggested that I just follow up with my primary care provider to talk about, um, the triglycerides and just kind of get a plan,

moving to lose some weight and get healthier. So that’s exactly what I did. Um, I scheduled the followup with my primary care provider and I’m glad I did. When I met with her, she went into a lot more depth with my blood work and she really just read through it all and explained everything to me really thoroughly, which helps so much.

And she wasn’t too worried about my triglycerides. My cholesterol look normal. Um, my, my insulin as well, you know, my A1C ones look good. So she really felt just starting a healthier lifestyle and losing some weight, which to fix these things. As she went through my blood work more, she noticed, you know, your, your hormone levels do look a little bit off.

She said, um, I’m going to butcher this maybe, but I think the FSH and LH levels were off as far as the ratio that they should be. And so she’s the one who decided let’s look a little closer into this. You could have, what’s called PCs. Um, I’m not sure yet I’d like to do an ultrasound just to rule that out.

So that’s what I did went for an ultrasound. And honestly I did research online and I was like, I don’t think I have PCs. You know, I don’t have acne, I don’t have, um, excessive hair growth. There are so many symptoms that I didn’t have. So I kind of convinced myself almost like, Oh, I’m sure it’s,

I’m sure she’s just rolling it out. So then I got the call a couple days later and she said, based on your ultrasound, you do have a multiple cysts on your ovaries. And that does look like she called it borderline PCO. S but explained to me that it’s basically PCLs, um, this is a common condition. You just need to again,

get healthy and lose weight. And she also mentioned at this time that I would likely have issues having children and that she sees that a lot with her patients who have cos that’s So traumatizing. I know you, um, last time I chatted with you, you had told me this and how having kids is something that you really are looking forward to. Exactly.

Just like you said, it was the diagnosis itself came as a complete shock, let alone, you know, just tacking onto the end of our conversation. And I immediately was in tears and she was so sweet and as a wonderful primary care provider, and she said, are you okay? I don’t want to scare you, but I also want to be upfront with you as well.

And she did say, you know, a lot of her, her patients who lose weight have no trouble having kids. So she did explain it further, but still just the, the thought of that was very scary for me. So immediately after that appointment, I remember I was not, I was at work at the time. He fortunately, and you know how it is when you get a call from your doctor,

you need a call back like right away. So you can actually have a conversation with them. And so I went into one of our empty exam room and called them. So I’d have some, and I just remember being so upset at that point. I had to leave, leave work, and luckily it was the end of the day, but I got in my car and just called my mom and was just in tears,

you know, really devastated just to find out that something was, I don’t want to say wrong with me, but it is true. Like there’s something going on with my health, um, that I was unaware of. So after I kinda got through that initial shock, you know, luckily I have my, my mom and my sisters and our roommate,

and I kinda just got that all my emotions out to them and kind of talk to them about how I was feeling. And after a couple of days, you know, I decided I have to pick myself back up. I can’t just like wallow in my pity and, um, be upset for the rest of my life. And I did find comfort in the fact that this is common.

Um, and I started to do my own research online because I had so many questions and, um, scheduled a follow up with my gynecologist to bring this to their attention and also kind of talked to them about why they didn’t catch it. And instead my primary care provider did regardless. I’m just glad that I figured it out, but still I thought they should know,

you know, what happened. So I love the lead came across your Instagram page in that research. And I mean, I was so relieved just to find some information and not only, um, you know, good information about what PCO S is, but also some really solid recommendations of other things that I can do to improve this. And it’s not the end of the world.

It’s not as negative as it feel initially. It’s just that your body is working differently than someone else. And like one in 10 or one in five women have PCO S and, um, you just have to do something differently. That’s all We just interviewed a doctor. We just interviewed a doctor who said one in three women. Everyone’s staying a different number.

I don’t know. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that, you know, when you found out about your piece us, we really appreciate you sharing your journey. Cause it is, I can’t be in your shoes. So I don’t know for sure, but I know it’s, it can be something very tough to go through. You don’t know that there’s so many questions And he’s giving you direct answers either.

They’re like just lose weight. And you’re like, what, how, like I obviously have tried, you know? Yeah, definitely. And I think in that once I had, first of all, it’s really important just to let yourself feel the way you’re feeling and don’t deprive yourself of that. Like I had to feel sad. I had to feel angry,

upset, and confused, but once I was able to kind of like shift my perspective, okay, what am I going to do about this? That’s when things started changing for me and I just was so hungry for like education. I just want to understand what this is. And it was also kind of relieving in a way, like, I felt grateful to have learned this so early in my life,

like, I do want to be a mother and I am glad, I feel grateful that I have some time to figure this out and get healthy. And so I just tried to change to a more positive like mindset. Like now I understand what has been going on with my body. And like, I had answers for so many things that I was kind of wondering about,

and now I can like get on the right path. Yeah. Even the doctor that we interviewed just the other week had said, like, it’s so important to treat it early. If you want to have babies, you know, try to recover from PCLs first and then have the baby so that you don’t run into complications. So it’s really good that you really took that initiative earlier on.

Definitely. And I found so much positivity in the resources that you guys put out, which really helped me in that difficult time. And just listening to your story and how your cysts went away. And, you know, you’re so healthy now after your journey that gave me so much hope. And then on top of that, seeing so many sisters who have done the same thing,

it’s like, I’d be foolish to not give this a try. And when I did follow up with my gyno, they set up an appointment with the dietician and I met with her and she talked a lot about insulin resistance and what this can turn into if I don’t take control of it now. And she did prescribe me a couple of different medications. First of all,

I got prescribed birth control right away, which didn’t come as a surprise to me when I was younger. And first started my cycle. I was put on birth control right away, actually, because it was so irregular. So I was on birth control for, I want to say almost 10 years before I went off of it and then was off of it for a couple of years,

got diagnosed with TCUs. And so they just put me on the pill again right away and kind of hinted toward that probably contributed to what happened, um, which is a possibility. So when I met with the dietician, she put me on spirit and a lactone and Metformin, and she warned me about some of the side effects. She said, after a week,

they should go away. So I started taking them and, um, I haven’t felt so sick. Like I couldn’t hardly focus at work. You know, I gave it the week period and I was like, this isn’t getting better. This is getting worse. And I’ll, I won’t, I’ll never forget, you know, at this point I already knew followed you.

I wasn’t a part of the sisterhood quite yet. Or I just recently was me. And I remember listening to your podcast about, um, Metformin. And then I listened to your podcast about birth control. And I was kind of in this like turning point, like, what do I do? Do I trust what my doctors are saying? Or do I listen to my gut?

And like, I know this is like, I don’t feel well and I don’t want to be on this medication. Like I might as well try the natural path first. And if that doesn’t work, then maybe revisit medications. So just educating myself, gave me the courage to try. There’s so much research about lifestyle changes working equally to Metformin. So it’s your choice.

If you want to take the Metformin or the lifestyle change and even supplements that can help boost your insulin sensitivity, like go basketball. Cause I know you’re on that, right? Yes. I started Avastin in mid March and I just decided at that point, like I had heard you say so many times, like, just give it 90 days. It’s the,

the amount of basketball you get and that’s enough time for the like lifestyle changes to kick in also. So I’ll never forget. I stopped all the medication I started, um, not so tall. Um, and I started gluten free, dairy free, and I just said, I’m gonna be serious about this and give it a good shot. And after I did make that decision,

you know, I did the meal prep challenge, which was super helpful to me. Of course. Yeah. And the sisterhood and that keep me accountable. And then I started the course. So I’ve done both of those. Oh, Oh yeah. I’ve lost a little over 25 pounds. So it’s been working amazing in the past six months or like,

cause I know you were diagnosed six months ago, so was it January that you started off with? I was diagnosed my highest weight, right. When I was diagnosed to now it’s about 25 pounds. Yeah. That’s awesome. On your progress. And honestly, it really sounds like you were very strong in like picking yourself up once you found out about it and just making yourself like learn and um,

find us, find the right resources to know that’s going to help your body and like really I praise you for being strong and like applying to change. Cause it’s not easy to like go one step at a time. Cause like you want to see the results right away. But it’s really about being patient with yourself. And that’s like very, um, you need to be very strong to do that.

So great job. Right. And not only did I need to, to pick myself up then, but you know, I have to pick myself up a lot of times. Like it’s not easy, it’s not perfect. You know, my journey has been a little up and down and there has been times where I’ve struggled more, you know, especially recently with,

um, the high, stressful situations that are just going on in the world and how that affects me and my job and lots of different things. So I have to remind myself to be realistic and patient with myself. And if I do mess up or slip up whatever the case may be, just pick myself back up again the next day and keep going.

And if you do that, then the accumulation of all the good things and the right choices that you’ve been making really do pay off. And that’s another thing I think this is, I feel like my success is not just attributed to like gluten free dairy free. Yes. That’s a big piece of it, but I’ve also made so many changes, you know,

and I started a Vasa tall. I started a better sleep schedule. I started taking CBD I’m on so many supplements that I’m excited about little things I did add added to where I am now. Does that make sense? Of course. Yeah. And that’s really what it is too. It’s like diet and lifestyle and then these supplements help supplement your change so that every,

like all the pieces of the puzzle come together and you know, you’re, you eventually are where you want to be. I saw your double Decker supplement in the sisterhood and I was like, what? That’s perfect for you. You love organization. I love organization, but you don’t take anything. I give it to you. Yeah. There’s that too.

I had to upgrade cause I was at the point where just the simple one wasn’t enough rooms. Yeah. Yeah. That’s so good. Awesome. So tell us a bit more. So you said you’re meditating as well. Do you feel like you’re doing all of these things every single day or sometimes, you know, maybe you don’t do it and like you fall off a little bit for like a day,

but then you hop back on because I know a lot of women are really like harsh on themselves. Um, you know, I’ve been there like you really want to do well, you’re really trying to commit, but you can’t do it perfectly every day. What would you say to a sister out there who’s like overwhelmed by the multitude of things that they think that they should be doing?

Yeah, that’s a great question. And no, I do not do everything every day. You know, I have some days where I don’t do anything and I just simply eat well and that’s enough for me, you know? But um, for me, what really worked was trying to focus on like my morning and my evening routines. And you talk a lot about this Philly.

Um, but like in the morning, waking up early making breakfast, um, I ha I started drinking like a probiotic drink every morning, which made a huge difference with just my digestion and everything, and then had my spearmint tea right after that took my supplement. So I got this really solid, like morning routine down and that would check a lot of my habits off the list.

And I found, you know, when I was really consistent with that and did it, you know, almost every day it was a lot easier for me. It was almost like second nature just to wake up and do those things and do my routine. And then same thing with the evening, you know, um, taking a sentence D trying to wind down.

Um, I like to listen to like on the app that I use for meditation, they have these things called sleep casts, and it’s just like this relaxing story that helps you go to sleep. So that helped a lot. Just having those routines helped me really stay consistent with a lot of the habits I wanted to implement, but not every day is perfect.

Some days I wake up late and I have to get started with work right away. And I’m not eating breakfast until 10 and that’s not ideal, but that happens. Or sometimes I stay up late and I don’t go to bed on time, you know, and I tried to just have those habits built into my life. So it’s almost like second nature so that the majority of the time I’m doing them.

And when I’m not, it’s like a one off or sometimes like there’s been a couple of times where I had just like an off each where it just didn’t really, I had other things going on and I couldn’t focus as much on, um, everything else I’m trying to work on in my personal life and feeding my, my health and, and sometimes work has to take a little bit more focused in that’s.

Okay. The next week I got refocused and did some things on the weekend to kinda like remote to the ER and get me in a more positive mindset, grocery shopped and meal prepped. And then the next week was much better. So anytime that I had, like, I hate falling it like a slip up, but anytime that I slip up or maybe to have done something better,

I tried my hardest to look at that as like a learning lesson. Like for example, last week I cracked and had some pizza, which is gluten and dairy and it was delicious, but it was not worth it. Like the way I felt after was just so much like reassurance for me. Like, you feel so much better eating gluten and dairy free and yes,

that pizza was delicious, but it’s more worth it to what happened afterwards. I just felt like just bloated. And like the next morning I didn’t have as much energy. Like I could just tell my boss, I become very in tune with my body after trying to implement all these changes, which is nice. So I could just feel the difference in,

I didn’t feel as light and energetic and a lot of women might feel like, you know, why do I have to do all these things? And other people don’t have to do all these things. And you know, when I fall off the wagon, like my health falls apart. Whereas if it’s someone else, um, are more resilient, but there’s so many people,

But maybe mentally they’re not strong. Or like maybe they have a lot of things going on in their head stress, but like doing these nightly routines, like meditation or, you know, self care and like eat, like you mentioned, Rebecca, like, if you miss something one night, then you just like adapt. Right. You like next day,

do something that helps replace that. So it’s just about being in tune with your body, like you said, and like, anytime you can’t do something, that’s okay. Cause I will, I’ll be able to do something else to tomorrow remedy. And there’s not like this pressure, like even like, uh, eating a gluten dairy free pizza, that’s totally fine.

And like, you should never feel like you cheated or guilty because life is life and you should know Whenever we want to do. Yeah. Yeah. And PCOM almost makes you even more healthy or shall I say, um, psychologically, mentally stronger than, uh, and physically then others who aren’t taking care of themselves. Aren’t just taking advantage of the fact that they’re slim and they don’t have these hormonal health issues and they just eat whatever they want.

Cause like one day that’ll always catch up to you and no matter what, right. You’re absolutely right. And I think it’s really important that we’re talking about this because just from, I’ve always struggled with my weight since I was a little girl. And I feel like for so long, I’ve been trying to lose weight and trying to look a certain way and like yo yo dieting and beating myself up.

And you know, that took up so much time in my life. And I’m just so over it at this point. And, and now after I’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, it’s given me like a different perspective, like different motivations. I’m not doing this just to like look a certain way. I’m doing this to feel healthy, to have a healthy body,

to be able to have children one day, like, you know, to be good mentally and learning that the connection between like birth control PCLs and your mood and depression and anxiety. That was such a huge moment for me because I have struggled with that. And it was, it was kind of exciting to realize, like there’s an issue going on, that’s out of my control.

And now that I can know how to address that, like there’s hope that these things can like get better. Right. Absolutely. And, and you had said you were on birth control for 10 years. I can only imagine the damage that PCFS was doing underneath this bandaid for all those 10 years, as you were struggling with everything that you said, um,

with mood issues, depression, with weight issues, with, you know, all of the symptoms that PCs has just like underneath the birth control, like bubbling. So yeah, I can imagine it’s such a relief to finally get off, realize what’s going on and take charge. Definitely. Tell us about some of your favorite gluten and dairy free foods that you’ve discovered while on this journey.

Sure, absolutely. Um, well, what’s been really kind of fun and exciting is trying to find like gluten and dairy free replacements for all of the foods that I still love, like pizza or pasta or whatever the case might be. So I’ve been really loving, um, bonds of pasta. That’s my favorite free pasta. I got that recommendation from you.

Um, and then I’ve also been loving, like avocado toast in the morning with gluten free bread. I love to pair that with like a nice egg. Um, I think I, I tend toward like the more classic breakfast I really like to start my day that way. Um, I also, I definitely, I also really enjoy making like grain bowls.

So like keenwah protein and veggie and some hot sauce or whatever. It’s nice to use, like whatever vegetables you have. Yeah. Yeah. I made one last night with just like broccoli onions and then some rice and then some meatballs. And that was it. Yeah. Is there any difficulty you found with adjusting to gluten dairy feel like maybe like finding anything like that you want to let us know?

No, I haven’t had any difficulty, you know, I have been shopping online because it’s been quarantine and I don’t know if you guys know, but Amazon has an option to deliver whole food groceries. So that’s just two. And when you go to places like trader Joe’s or sprouts, whole foods, they have so many more options when it comes to like dairy free and gluten free,

but they also have a lot of options at just your normal grocery store as well. So I think it’s all about going into your shopping with the plan. This is what I’m craving this week. This is what I want to make this week. What do I need to buy it? And so that’s been key for me, like just honoring my cravings like this week.

I really want like Alfredo pasta. So I’ll look up a dairy free Alfredo recipe made with like cashews on Pinterest and then use my gluten free pasta. And it hits that craving for me. And it’s also just like a fun, exciting recipe to me. I saw someone post that on the sisterhood. Was it you? I think it wasn’t someone had asked and I posted it in the comment to them.

I give them a suggestion. Is there a favorite dairy free cheese that you like, sorry. Do you like a certain dairy free cheese? Because when I went dairy free, I didn’t substitute it with the fake dairy cheese. Cause I was like, okay, like, I don’t know if I’m going to like that. I didn’t even try them at first.

And I just, yeah, I just cut out cheese. I had avocado and hummus and other healthy fats instead. But then recently as I’m like designing the new sisterhood upgrade recipes, I’ve been looking into like dairy free cheeses that I can incorporate. And they’re actually good. Look, I melted a slice of cheddar fake cheddar on my burger and it was like the same thing.

I’m still on the hunt for like a really good dairy free cheese. That’s probably the biggest thing. That’s not, it gets so different. And probably one of the things that I selfishly miss most is just cheese, but I do like diet, I’ve tried a couple different kinds of their cheeses. I’ve tried the pepper Jack and the cheddar and those are good,

but I got, um, whole foods dairy free cheese. And I’m going to try that this actually today is my favorite. That’s the one. Yeah. Cause it’s so it’s a lot more richer than the regular cheese cause they probably put like more into it just because they want to make the personal, like it was just really good. Yeah. Yeah.

I’m really happy to hear that because my friend and I are actually going to make some pizzas. So I hope that I got the mozzarella from whole foods. So fingers crossed is kind of a little better, but um, I also find that even though it’s not exact, of course it’s not exactly like regular cheese, it’s not regular cheese, but it still gives you the feeling of,

you know, having a little cheese or whatever. I also really love, um, nutritional lease, like putting that on top of my pasta is like Parmesan cheese or yeah, just like cheese that, yeah. And it’s just like a natural food. It’s not even fake. I almost like that better than the dairy free cheese alternatives. Yeah, totally.

Did you, did you have trouble? I don’t know if you were drinking coffee, but did you cut out coffee or did you have issues with that? Yeah, that was a hard one for me. And I remember like I remember learning everything and being like, maybe he’ll be okay. Drinking coffee. Like finally I was like, you know, I don’t need coffee.

I was just in the habit of drinking it every day and I enjoyed that like ritual. So I got over it and I’m totally fine without it, but I’ve replaced that routine, which has made a difference. Yeah. And I know that that is a pain point because like, we all like want to drink coffee because it’s like, it’s ingrained into our diet in the morning and everything.

And you feel like you need caffeine to like to get this jolt, but really, you know, like we’re human. Like our bodies doesn’t require caffeine to go through, you know, like we’re naturally made to have energy and it’s really has to do with our diet, you know, insulin, which a lot of times can make you so tired. And that’s really the reason you’re tired.

It’s not because you’re not having caffeine. So I know it’s difficult. And to all the sisters listening out there, like you can do it without coffee, just like Rebecca and toast, just cut it down slowly. And if you really like coffee, like you can even drink decaf. It’s like a, it’s like a vicious cycle. When you have caffeine.

Like if you’re stressed, you’re pumping your stress hormones. And then, you know, those eventually go down and your body is exhausted from pumping all that stress hormone consistently day after day because you’re stressed and now you’re fatigued and then you drink coffee in that pumps more stress hormones, and then you’re fatigued again. And it’s like, it’s not going to do anything,

um, permanently to heal why you’re fatigued in the first place. Yeah. And that’s exactly what it comes down to. Like if there’s anyone out there that’s struggling giving you a coffee, just try it. Like, what do you have to leave? And for me, once I made the decision to make that change, I realize that it’s not really that big of a deal.

It’s just like you have this kind of like connection to it and probably an addiction to it as well. So just breaking that and giving it a shot. Yeah. Yeah. Look, how many other cool rituals you made for yourself? You know, breaking away from the mainstream caffeine that celiac is literally drinking right now. And for me it was just worth it.

Like I it’s the same thing with alcohol. Like I had to cut down on drinking so much, and that was a sacrifice that I had to make. I had to look into this side, like, do I want to drink coffee or do I want to try to figure out like how to get my body healthy? Like what’s my priority. And same thing with alcoholic.

I do have alcohol every once in a while. Of course I always will, but I have cut it down so much and I felt so much better. And it’s just, you get in the habit of going out every weekend and just hanging out with your friends. And before you realize that you have these bad habits, that you’ve accidentally started apps. Absolutely.

And do you find it difficult to tell your friends That’s what that, like, how was it with your friends when you explained to them about PCs, your diet changes like, like gluten dairy free, like how was that discussion? You don’t have to talk about your dating life, but if you do like, what’s that like, well, right now I’m single.

So dating life is not even in the picture. No one’s dating. Find you a Mister, don’t worry. We got signed up for all the sisters out there. You can start a dating app or something, but I’m telling my friends and family has been really great. I think it’s been really nice to kind of open up to them and connect with them on that level.

And I luckily have really amazing friends. I just have a few, I like to keep them close and few in between, but the ones that I do trust with things like this have been so supportive and just care about me and they, you know, say that they’re happy for me to be figuring things out and being on a more positive path. I think those people who are,

who are closest to me have seen my struggles have seen, you know, what I’ve gone through with, with my emotions or my lead or whatever it might be. There’s so many different things. But I think for them, I’m very blessed that they’re just supportive and they care. And, um, my friend, like I said later today, her name is Heather and she’s really supportive and really healthy.

She’s very educated about these things and she herself is dairy free. And so like, we try to do fun things where it’s like, we can commit, stay on our goals. Like tonight she’s going to come over and we’re going to have some wine that’s low in sugar that she found and eaten free and dairy free pizza together. And so it’s just fun to incorporate things.

And then, you know, my other best friend, um, Colleen is just interested to understand what is gluten? What does that mean? And so, um, I feel very blessed with my support system and I bet I bet they’re looking at you and they’re like, look at how much better she’s doing and they just want to keep pushing you. Yeah,

exactly. No, I was just going to say, and it’s the same for my family. Like my mom has been so supportive and you know, she’s the, she’s the person I call and it’s like distress mode. Like who do you call? It’s my mom. So I’m just, I’m lucky to have, have the family friends that I do.

And I think that that’s such an important thing is to have a support system like that and have people that you can talk to, like I’m struggling so much today or I’m devastated because I just found this out and be able to talk through those things and process your emotions is really key. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like you have amazing support system,

which is really good. It’s very important to have friends and family that like are going to be by your side. But I bet it’s also because you explained it in a very good way. You know, like it, a lot of times it depends on how a person relays a message to family and friends and you want to be strong and kind of like stand up for yourself as you’re explaining it and not like letting them on,

like you want to like, make them understand what it is. So it sounds like you did that too. So that’s really good. And I recently just had like my first experience, I went to like a girls night with my sister and our roommate and they were making tacos and um, I forget how it came up, but I, I said,

you know, I’m gluten and dairy free or, and they were just like, Oh, is it because you have a health condition? And that was really strange for me. Like, and so that was my first experience, but I felt really happy with the way I handled it. Like I just explained, yeah. You know, I was comfortable telling them.

Of course I just said, I was recently diagnosed with PCLs and, um, going gluten free and dairy free can really help with a lot of the symptoms. So it’s just something I’m trying. And they were really cool about it and interested in it. And it was a point of our conversation over dinner. So that’s great. You gave it a positive twist.

You said it confidently, you know, it’s working for you. And then everyone comes on board and they’re like, cool, she’s good. I’m good, no judgment. Right. And one of the girls even said, my dad, my dad’s gluten free. And so it works really well for him too. So a lot of people like hear about gluten free and dairy free and know that it’s usually associated with some type of health conditions.

So when you mention it, it can come up. So I think what works for me is just being prepared. Like what might I say, if it comes up and how I explain it. Yeah. I have to speak their questions and like, know how to answer them without thinking about it. And in that moment, Didn’t we do a podcast episode about that.

Yeah. Your elevator speech. Yeah. I love that. Yes. I listened to that podcast and I loved the way you explained that we learned about elevator speeches in business school, in an elevator with someone like, let’s say the CEO, you need to pitch yourself for like a promotion or whatever it might be. You have like 20 seconds in the elevator.

So what are you going to say? So that’s it for me, right. When someone asks you who you are or why you have to eat gluten and dairy free, like what’s your 22nd nice way of like packaging the message. Yeah. Very good. Awesome. Alright. Does that? Everything, all the questions we want to, Yeah. Yeah.

I think we’ve covered them all. And if sisters have any more questions they can, of course DMS messages. Is there anything Rebecca you want to say before we end the podcast? Um, I just say like for all you sisters out there, or anyone who’s recently diagnosed with PCs, don’t give up, you know, there’s things that you can do and things you can implement and it takes some time and it’s a lifelong journey,

but it really does work if you’re patient and consistent and um, just don’t give up and try to try to stay positive. I know it gets hard sometimes, but it really makes a world of a difference. If you can just try to think positively and focus on what you can do and try to, um, implement some healthy habits. So before you know,

it, it’s second nature for you to be doing these things. Yeah, absolutely great words of wisdom. And I just want to thank you guys again. I can never thank you enough, like finding your, your guys’s resources and information that you put out there and becoming a part of the sisterhood, um, needs such a huge difference in my journey.

And I’m so grateful that when I was Googling PCLs and Instagram and TCOs, I found you guys because it’s really is confusing and scary, and you don’t get these answers from your doctor and you don’t know where to turn. And so I’m just eternally grateful to both of you guys for everything. And, um, I’m really relieved that there are resources out like,

like this out there for people who are in my shoes and were in my shoes. Thank you so much. That’s so nice. Yeah. And hearing that is like, makes it more fun. It’s fulfilling every day. But like hearing that personally from you, it just makes it even more fulfilling. So thank you for, thank you for that. It gets old when we hear messages like that.

Alrighty. Then, uh, Rebecca don’t, don’t hang up. We’ll talk a little bit more after we end it, but thank you everybody for listening to the episode and listening to Rebecca’s journey and her progress with PCs. And We’ll talk to you ladies soon. Yes. Alright. Bye. 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 PCOS from Sage one, Colden 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. Again,