About
My name is Jennifer. I have PCOS. I eat Paleo. And now I don’t feel like I have PCOS.
Four years ago I was diagnosed with PCOS at age 24 when I wasn’t having any baby success. Having never heard of such a thing, I was amazed by its prevalence amongst women of child-bearing age. I spent the next 3 1/2 years combating this dreadful disease, doing everything I could to reverse or at least slow down its effects. I researched, I switched doctors a million times, I changed my diet to follow all conventional wisdom.
The result: I got fatter. And more PCOS-y.
(To be fair, I also got 2 children who are my joy)
After moving forward with a Paleo diet in August, I wanted to shout my discovery from the rooftops. Eureka! The cure! The elusive PCOS cure!
I have been so utterly convinced that PCOS can be managed through a Paleo lifestyle modification that I started this blog as a support mechanism for searching women. Despite my valiant efforts, PCOS stole some of the most valuable, vibrant years of my life. I can only hope that others do not have to follow the same path. Please feel free to share your experiences. There’s strength and hope to be found in numbers.
When I’m not lauding the values of Paleo for PCOS, I stay home with my two beauties (age 2 and 7-months). I was completely smitten with my husband during our blind date 8 years ago (at Brigham Young University) and convinced him to marry me 8 months later. Houston, Texas is currently home, with my heart still split between Nevada, Utah, and Portugal. In my past life, I was a middle school teacher, employment specialist, bank teller, autism therapist, event planner, and very ugly dancer.
Contact me at vibrantsexystrong (at) gmail (dot) com
HI Jen,
I love all of your posts! So informative and encouraging. For me, I’m 25 newly married and have PCOS. Hubby and I began eating Paleo on and off before the wedding for about 3 weeks and when we came back from our honeymoon strict for about 3 weeks now. My questions for you are: did you conceive after eating Paleo or with help from the doctors? How long did you eat Paleo before your periods began coming every month? (I’ve been spotting now, so I’m not sure if that’s a good thing and my hormones are trying to level out or if its something to be concerned about) last question, did you take or do you currently take any natural herbs and progesterone cream?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my reply and questions.
Sincerely,
Summer
Hi Summer, thank you for reading! I conceived before I went Paleo. My doctors wanted to help the process along, but my gut feeling was that it wasn’t a good option for me. I went on the South Beach diet right before I got pregnant with my first baby and had cut out all sugars and sugar substitute before I got pregnant with my second.
My period returned 11 months after starting Paleo, but I was (and still am) nursing. About 8 months after starting, I went to my doctor to make sure my absent period was due to my nursing and my blood work indicated that I wasn’t menstruating because of the breastfeeding. I now have a regular monthly period–more regular than when I was on birth control.
I’ve never taken herbs or progesterone cream, so I don’t know too much in that area. My baby is currently taking an herbal supplement though and once I get some tests back, I have a feeling my doc will put me on herbs too.
Thanks for the response! When you say cut out sugars are you cutting out sugars from fruit too? We don’t eat any artifical sugar or sweetners but I’m not sure if I should also cut out fruit completely for a month or so. I don’t eat much fruit so it’s a little confusing as to how much fruit a person should eat while on paleo.
When I cut out sugars, I am referring to white, brown, syrup, HFCS, honey, juice, etc. (which translated into not eating anything from a package).
I didn’t cut fruit out completely. Fruit is generally considered nutritious, but it plays a different role for people. If fruit is triggering you to want more sugar, you may want to explore not eating too much of it (which is what I have to do). But if it’s not a problem, then you are probably fine (like my husband, who can tolerate quite a few servings a day without turning into a candy-craver).
Awesome thank you so much for taking the time to write to me! =)
My pleasure Summer! And thanks for being so patient with my tardy response