My Journey with PCOS.
I grew up as a chubby child, which inevitably transformed into a ‘fat’ teenager. As a child, I did classical dancing, in my pre-teens and early teen years I did yoga. However, in spite of all my efforts, I kept gaining weight, even with a reduced intake of junk food.
In 2014, I started CrossFit. I worked with a trainer, and I achieved some amount of weight loss. For the first time, I finally felt like something is working. The initial weight loss plateaued. I was eating ‘super healthy’. I still went from maintaining to gaining again, this started a year later. I simply blamed this to the fact that I have now relocated my life and just started University. I needed the occasional indulgence to help with my relocation to Toronto.
Fast forward to the start of 2017, I was home, not feeling so well. I did some tests and discovered I have some cysts on my ovaries. This stressed me out so much, and the doctors at school wanted to put me on birth control. However, in February, I went home for my semester break, where I saw Dr. Madhu Singh. She went over all my test results and explained that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). She then patiently and thoroughly explained all the key PCOS things I should know, especially about my carbohydrate intake, avoiding dairy, caffeine, etc.
This was my starting point of change, finally, I realized why I was gaining, it gave me the courage to go back to the gym, and slowly make the necessary adjustments needed to truly feel my best and be comfortable in my skin. Tons of nutrition research, hours in the kitchen and a lot of time at the gym, I have almost lost fifty (50) pounds. As a food enthusiast, living with PCOS comes down to a lot of “tough” decisions and saying NO even when you really want to say yes.
My blog is about my efforts of following an 80/20 lifestyle while keeping the majority of my meals low carb and filled with wholesome ingredients. All those things I say NO to, I find a way to recreate in a PCOS friendly manner, so follow my blog for creative ideas on how to replace traditional carbs with yummy wholesome ingredients and still indulge all the foods you love!
My goal is not only to share my recipes but to encourage other women with PCOS to realize, there is a way to live, healthy, happy and comfortable in your own skin. Please feel free to connect with me!
Nutana
