Fat Loss and Fertility: A Personal Journey

I was a brand new family medicine attending. We had been married for 2 years and living in Buffalo, NY. We were so excited to finally be thinking about starting our family! As you can imagine, medical school and residency took its toll on my health: mentally and physically.

I did all the research about what to eat and what not to eat. What chemicals to avoid in my make-up and bath products. What supplements to take and what to avoid when trying to conceive. I read a lot of books!

We got a positive pregnancy test the first month! It was exciting and we were so happy! However, 4 days later, I had a very heavy, painful period. Even though it was only a chemical pregnancy (fertilization of the egg occurred but chromosomal abnormalities cause a very early miscarriage) it was still psychologically hard to process. We went to the infertility specialist after 6 months of not being able to conceive. I went through months of lab tests, ultrasounds, medications and a lot of mental anxiety and stress. And none of it worked.

Infertility.

It is such a common diagnosis. But the real question is what is the underlying cause? We don't talk about it, though. What breaks my heart is when women come into see me and they have been told by another doctor that they can NEVER have children. Or, they haven't been able to get pregnant despite a 'normal' work up by doctors.

Our story has a happy ending (those two smiling, goofy boys!) but when we were in the middle of it, there were so many emotions and so much self-doubt.

I am forever grateful to my sister who knew of fitness gurus and naturopaths in North Carolina and pointed me in their direction. JillFit (now Jill Coleman) and The Metabolic Effect helped me lose 10 pounds of fat through diet change. I was beating myself up all the time and I finally realized that I needed to take care of MYSELF first. We were so focused on not having a child that I put myself on the back burner when really, women need to put themselves first - period. No matter what, but especially when trying to conceive. Pregnancy is a miracle but it is also demanding physically and emotionally.

So, I invested in myself - I paid for JillFit to customize a diet for me. It was a big change and commitment but I can honestly say I felt amazing! For the first time in years, I felt better, looked better, and within 2 months, we were pregnant!

This is our story. And it's important to talk about it. Here is a short list of underlying diagnoses that may contribute to infertility (excluding abnormal anatomic causes):

Endometriosis

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Hypothyroidism/Thyroid problems

Obesity

Insulin resistance/Diabetes

Chronic stress and anxiety

Adrenal fatigue/Chronic fatigue

(And by the way, this list can also contribute to low production of breast milk after birth, too!)

My Lifestyle Makeover Workshop (this was a past seminar, I'll be holding similar ones in the future) can help you go through the process of getting to the root cause of the above problems including infertility.

Or if you don't want to be a part of a group, check out the individual women's hormonal health consults I offer. I wish I'd had a comprehensive, guided program to follow when I was having problems when the conventional medical world couldn't help me.

I would love to help you navigate through these bothersome symptoms that are hindering you from being your true happy self!