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What is Nutrition Counseling?

August 1, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

As you search online about what you can do to improve your diet and manage your PCOS symptoms, you are likely to encounter the term “nutrition counseling”. Since this is a term that dietitians use to describe our services, I thought I would explain a little more about what nutrition counseling and why you may want to consider it.

A lot of people are understandably nervous to make an appointment with a dietitian. You may think that you will be judged or “yelled at” for what you are doing or not doing. This could be because you’ve had another health professional judge or scold you in the past. You may also think that a dietitian will tell you to give up all of your favorite foods, eat a really low calorie diet, cook all of your foods from scratch, and work out 5 times a week. You also may think that dietitians eat a “perfect diet” with no chips or sugar, that we work out all the time, and/or we’ve never had any health problems before. (This is not true.)

So what does happen in an appointment with a dietitian?

In the first visit we ask a lot of questions and really try to get to know you. We want to know what you eat, but also how you sleep, what your schedule is like, who cooks and shops at home, what is your medical history, what medicines and supplements do you take, and what “diets” have you been on before. We ask about emotions and food, any symptoms or intolerances you feel with food, cravings, how hungry and satisfied you are with food, and what health goals you have. We need to find out a lot about you before we can begin to work on goals to change things. A lot of people say that it feels like they are going to a therapist when they talk to a dietitian, since we really do dive into a lot of aspects of your life when we talk about food.

Follow up appointments for PCOS

After gathering information about you, we can map out a plan for feeling better depending on where are at. I like to do some education about what PCOS is and why you have the symptoms that you do, depending on what your knowledge is. We will talk about strategies that may include modifying what you eat, modifying how you eat, adding in more movement, taking supplements, stopping to take some supplements, improving your sleep, and reducing your stress. We may talk about adding in more food since you are not eating enough. Which strategies we do depends on what your goals are and where you are starting from. We typically will meet every week or every other week for around 5-6 sessions depending on how things are going. It works best to make a few small changes each visit instead of a lot of unsustainable changes from the beginning.

My goal for all clients

No matter what other goals you have for your health, my goal is for you to enjoy eating and eat the foods you love. You may not think this is something you need to work on, but if you are someone who has been on a lot of restrictive diets in the past you may not find much joy from food. Eating and thinking of what to eat may make you feel stressed or guilty. You can have a positive relationship with food again, and making peace with food will make your health improve.

Dietitians are people

Finding the right fit with the right person for you will help you to get the best care. This also goes for therapists and maybe even doctors. Nutrition counseling works when both the client and dietitian are fully engaged and communicate well with each other. We all have different personalities so sometimes you need to find the right person who works best with your personality and is aligned with your health goals.

So if you are a woman with PCOS who wants to decrease your symptoms, end diet cycling, improve fertility, increase your energy levels, and learn to trust your body with food, I may be the dietitian you are looking for. Click on nutrition counseling to contact me to set up a discovery call.

Should you take Vitamin D for PCOS?

July 23, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Vitamin D deficiency is relatively common in this country, and some studies suggest that over 60% of people with PCOS could be Vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is best known for helping your body absorb calcium from food, which is important for keeping bones strong. Vitamin D could also benefit your immune system, keep muscles working well, and may possibly help prevent certain types of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Sunshine Vitamin

We make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight during certain times of the year and hours of the day. The problem is that we don’t have much exposure if we live in a northern climate in the winter, if we spend a lot of time indoors, if we have darker skin, and if we use sunscreen. And of course too much exposure to UV light can cause skin cancer. So some of the reasons are vitamin D levels are low could be because we don’t have as much sun exposure as previous generations did.

Vitamin D in Food

Food sources of vitamin D include egg yolks, fatty fish, and fortified milk/dairy, and fortified cereal. The RDA for most people is between 400-800 IU per day, which is hard for most people to get from foods.

Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency

Symptoms of deficiency include fatigue, hair loss, bone or muscle pain, depression, and/or frequently getting sick.

What role does vitamin D have in PCOS?

Supplementing with vitamin D may improve insulin resistance. This is important since insulin resistance and high levels of insulin make PCOS symptoms worse.
Supplementing with vitamin D may decrease inflammation. Inflammation can increase insulin resistance and increase your risk for heart disease.
Several studies suggest that supplementing with vitamin D can help improve fertility for women with PCOS.
Supplementing with vitamin D may help mood, which is important since people with PCOS have a greater risk of depression than the general population.

*** Since people with PCOS are at greater risk for vitamin D deficiency, symptoms for deficiency can be vague, we don’t have a lot of good sources of vitamin D, and there are a lot of potential benefits to getting your vitamin D levels up if you PCOS, you may want to consider supplementing.

Supplements

If you suspect you have vitamin D deficiency, ask you doctor to test your levels since you may need a prescription strength supplement.

Most people can safely supplement with 1000-2000 IUs per day, though you can talk with your doctor about supplementing in even higher doses if they suspect deficiency. Some multivitamins have 1000 IUs of vitamin D you may want to consider taking (though the pill is big!). Here is the multivitamin I take.

Let me know if you have any other questions about vitamin D and click PCOS nutrition to contact me to talk about nutrition counseling for PCOS.

The Best Diet for PCOS

July 12, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Pexels.com

Because everyone’s situation with PCOS is different, there is not one perfect way of eating that is right for everyone. However, your PCOS symptoms can and will improve with changes to your lifestyle, including how you eat.

As I’ve mentioned before, the majority of people with PCOS have insulin resistance. It is this insulin resistance that causes ovaries to make more androgens and can lead to weight gain. Doing what you can to reduce insulin resistance can help improve your PCOS symptoms, which is why I’m saying that eating a diet to lower insulin resistance is the best diet for PCOS. Here are some strategies:

Eat carbohydrates with protein. It’s even better to add fiber and healthy fat! Simple carbs on their own raise blood sugar really quickly. Protein, fiber, and healthy fat don’t raise blood sugar as much and will slow down how quickly the sugar from the carbs hits your bloodstream. When blood sugar spikes, your body makes more insulin which can lead to weight gain and cause your ovaries to make more androgens. Check out this blog post for a review of carbs, protein, and fat: Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients.
Add more non-starchy veggies to each meal. Non-starchy veggies are low in calories and carbohydrates so your blood sugar will not be affected much by them. They are also high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Some tips – buy convenience vegetables. Frozen veggies are just as good as fresh and just need to be microwaved, which is the best way to preserve vitamins since it’s a fast cooking method. Also consider buying pre-washed and chopped veggies or salads that you can throw on your plate, in a salad, on a sandwich, or in a wrap.
This may sound redundant, but add foods that are high in fiber to your meals and snacks. This includes veggies, but also fruit, beans, and whole grains. High fiber foods digest slower and are more filling, which is helpful if you find that you are hungry a lot.
Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats most of the time. Eating foods high in saturated fat can cause an increase in insulin resistance, even shortly after eating a fatty meal. Unsaturated fats can actually help improve insulin resistance.
Limit sugary drinks. This includes juice, drinks with honey, and sugary coffee drinks. Liquid sugar makes our blood sugar spike the fastest since our body does not have to break down the food to be absorbed. The sugar hits your blood quickly. My suggestion is to save your sugar for desserts instead of drinks.
And the final tip of the day – work in those treat foods. That’s right. Don’t aim to eat a perfect diet all of the time because you are very likely going to feel deprived if you never eat sweets or chips again. You are much better off allowing yourself to eat these foods when you really want them so that you won’t feel the need to eat a lot of them all at once when you “fall off” your diet plan.

Changing what you eat is not the only way to improve insulin resistance. Stay tuned for more ways to improve insulin resistance with other lifestyle changes.

Click on PCOS nutrition counseling to learn more about working with me for individual nutrition counseling!

Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients

July 7, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

While I’ve already mentioned carbs, protein, and fats in previous blog posts, I feel like it might be helpful to take a step back and explain what each of these nutrients is and why they are important.

Macronutrients are the major nutrients that our bodies need to properly function. Most foods contain a combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fat but tend to have one dominant macronutrient.

Carbohydrates:

Provide us with energy. Breaks down to blood sugar which is the fuel that all of our cells run on for energy.
Sources of carbs include grains, foods made from flour, starchy vegetables (corn, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes), cereal, oatmeal, fruits, juice, milk, and anything made from sugar (honey, brown sugar, corn syrup, or maple syrup).
Non-starchy vegetables (greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) are made up of carbohydrates, but have a lot of water and fiber, and therefore are not a large source of carbohydrates or calories. (They are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals!)
Carbs are not “bad”. When people avoid them to lose weight, they are very likely to “binge” on them later since our body craves the energy that carbohydrates provide.
Carbohydrates digest quickly, especially if they don’t have much fiber, protein, or fat. Having a lot of carbs at one time can make blood sugar and insulin spike.
45-65% of calories should come from carbohydrates.

Protein:

All of our body is made up of protein. Our body uses protein to build and repair itself, keep fluids and pH balanced, and can act as chemical messengers (hormones). Enzymes are a type of protein which helps with digestion, moving muscles, and clotting blood.
Concentrated sources of protein include meat, fish, chicken, beans, tofu, tempeh, soy, milk, cheese, yogurt, and “veggie meat”.
Protein digests slower than carbs and doesn’t make blood sugar rise as quickly.
10-35% of calories should come from protein.

Fat:

We use fat to help store energy, regulate body temperature, protect our organs, and send hormones throughout our body.
Unsaturated fats are considered “heart healthy” and are more commonly found in plant sources and fish. These fats are liquid at room temperature and can be found in olive and canola oil, avocado, nuts, nut butter, and seeds. Omega 3 fatty acids are most commonly found in fish, flax, chia, and some algae.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are associated with increasing risk of heart disease. This type of fat should be limited and examples include high fat dairy (butter, whole milk, high fat cheese), processed meat, fat you see on meat, and coconut or palm oil.
Trans fats are created when unsaturated fats are chemically processed (hydrogenated) and turned into a solid fat. These fats cause the most damage to our hearts and have been taken out of a lot of foods in recent years. Sources can still be found in shortening, non-dairy coffee creamers, shelf stable cookies, pies, and pastries, fried foods, and some margarines and oils. Look for the words “partially hydrogenated” on ingredient lists and avoid these foods as much as possible.
20-35% of calories should come from fat, with the majority coming from unsaturated fat.

Are you interested in learning more about nutrition and how it affects PCOS? Click PCOS Nutrition to contact me about nutrition counseling!

Can I Blame PCOS on My Lack of Energy?

June 25, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Yes! Assigning blame can be satisfying, right? Now before you hit the couch for the foreseeable future, let’s dive into how PCOS affects energy and more importantly, what can you do about it.

Not enough quality sleep

When people say they are tired all the time, the first thing I ask about is their sleep habits. Quality sleep not only makes you feel better, but also helps your metabolism function better, improves your blood sugar, prevents weight gain and food cravings, and makes your immune system stronger. So basically it helps with a lot of common PCOS problems. You may not be getting enough sleep or your sleep may be interrupted by obstructive sleep apnea or anxiety. If you suspect that you have sleep apnea (which is more common in people with PCOS), talk to your doctor about getting a sleep study. You can also talk to a doctor or therapist about managing anxiety which is also more common in those with PCOS.

A lot of people need to work on making sleep a priority. We need 7-9 hours per night. And sleep quality will improve if you turn your phone on silent and turn off the TV.

Insulin resistance

When insulin is not sticking to cells like it should and blood sugar has trouble getting into your cells, a few things happen that can make you tired. You body makes more insulin and your cells aren’t getting the energy they need to function well. If your body makes extra insulin, that can lead to a low blood sugar or “sugar crash” which can cause you to feel exhausted.

Eating meals and snacks with a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber can help keep blood sugar even throughout the day. This can help prevent ups and downs and also will slow down your body’s insulin production. Even blood sugar and less insulin can make you feel less tired.

Not enough movement

Moving your body each day can help insulin work better (improve insulin resistance), and blood sugar can get into the cells during exercise even without insulin. Adding more movement can help keep blood sugar even throughout the day. Exercise gets the heart pumping and this can “wake you up” and also help channel some anxiety to help your relax better later. A lot of people report sleeping better on days when they exercise. (Sleep better=more energy)

Any movement is good movement. If you are able to sneak in a few 10 minutes walks per day, that is awesome. Lunch time is a great time to walk since it can help prevent the afternoon slump. Do exercise that you like so that you will actually keep doing it!

Low levels of Vitamin D, Iron, or Vitamin B12

If you are deficient in any of these nutrients, your energy level is likely to suffer. You can always ask your doctor to check lab values if you suspect you have a deficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common with people with PCOS. You can safely add a supplement of 1000 iu or look for a multivitamin with 1000 iu.

Iron deficiency is most common in pre-menopausal women especially those that are pregnant or have heavy menstrual cycles. It is also common in people who drink a lot of milk, eat a vegetarian diet, have celiac disease, or a history of bariatric surgery. If you are deficient and having trouble tolerating the supplement, talk to your doctor or dietitian to help you find a supplement that works for you.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is more common in people who take the drug Metformin or acid reducing medications or in people who follow a vegan diet or who have had bariatric surgery. You can safely add a 1000 mcg supplement of Vitamin B12.

Depression

People with PCOS are more likely to suffer from depression than most people, and depression causes a serious lack of energy. Talk to your doctor or mental health professional for help managing depression.

Hypothyroid

People with PCOS may suffer from an underactive thyroid, which can cause low energy levels. Talk to your doctor about having a full thyroid panel done if you suspect you have an underactive thyroid.

Bottom line – Yes PCOS can zap your energy! But, there are things that you can do to help improve your energy and feel better. I strongly recommend talking to your doctor about energy levels since you may need to have some blood work done.

Interested in getting some individual nutrition counseling to manage your PCOS symptoms? Click here to contact me for a discovery call.

Start with Eating Three Times a Day

June 18, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Many people that I talk to miss or skip meals for various reasons. Common reasons that I hear about usually have to do with being too busy, not leaving yourself enough time, or not being hungry at a particular time of day. Other people miss meals as an attempt to lose weight.

So what’s the problem with this?

When we miss meals or go a really long time in between eating, it can lead to binge eating or eating large quantities of food later in the day. People who don’t eat much breakfast or lunch will often say they eat from the moment they get in from work or school until they go to bed. Also when we train our body to ignore natural hunger feelings, we can slow down our metabolism. This is also true for people who undereat all day long and don’t end up eating a lot later in the day. If you don’t take in enough total energy throughout the day, your metabolism can slow down to protect your body from starving.

If you have PCOS, you also have to take into account insulin resistance, which most people with PCOS have to some degree. This means that the insulin our body produces to help shuttle sugar into all of our cells isn’t working properly. Our body makes plenty of insulin when we eat, but if the insulin isn’t sticking to our cells and letting that blood sugar into the cells, then our blood sugar levels can rise. If we eat a large meal, especially one that is high in carbohydrates, our body will make a lot of insulin. High insulin levels make PCOS symptoms worse. High insulin can cause the ovaries to produce more male hormones which will make skin and hair issues worse. High insulin can also make you feel hungry and crave carbs. It can make you gain weight since insulin tells your body to “store” energy instead of “burn” it.

We humans (and all other living beings) have natural body cycles called circadian rhythms, which help determine when we eat and sleep. These circadian rhythms impact how our body grows and repairs itself, regulates metabolism, and produces hormones.

Our body functions best when we eat (and sleep) around the same time each day. Ideally we are sleeping when it’s dark out and eat during the daylight, but this is not possible for everyone’s schedule. By functioning “best”, I mean that we feel most rested, have energy, feel hungry before meals, feel satisfied after meals, and our immune system is doing a pretty good job of keeping us well.

If you are someone who eats one or two times a day or who doesn’t eat much during the day but eats a lot at night or who never feels hungry, my suggestion is to start by committing to eating three times a day around the same time each day. Most parents are pretty good at putting their kids on a sleeping and eating schedule. We can see that our kids function best with consistent bedtimes and regular meals and snacks. As adults we are better at hiding when we feel lousy, but we might have that cranky kid inside us craving the structure we provide for others or used to have for ourselves.

Where to start?

Eat something within an hour of waking up in the morning.
Try to eat lunch and dinner around the same time each day.
It’s ok to eat just a small amount if you are not hungry. But don’t skip a meal time!
Don’t worry so much about what you are eating at this point, but instead focus on eating consistently.
Notice how you feel after eating.
- If you are hungry soon after a meal, the meal was not large enough or might have lacked a macronutrient (carbs, protein, or fat).
- If you are not hungry for the next meal, the earlier meal may have been too large.
- If you are hungry 3 hours after you ate, then add a snack and this is okay!
Give your body several weeks to adjust to this new eating pattern. Things to notice:
- When are you feeling hungry? Is it different than before?
- How is your energy level?
- Any changes in what you are craving?
- How is your mood?

Working on how you eat can be just as important as what you eat. And changing how we do things is hard! I know that eating consistently often takes more planning and can be more time consuming, but the payoff can mean having more energy and feeling better. And isn’t that what this is all about?

Just Tell Me What To Eat

June 10, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

I get it, I get it. We are so busy with all of the obligations we have, whether it’s work, kids, chores, traffic, school, or all of the above. Sometimes it feels like, as women, we have more demands on our time and more pressure on ourselves than ever before.

So you have PCOS, and you just want someone to tell you what to do because you don’t have room in your brain to make more decisions. Perhaps you’ve done some research online, but found confusing, contradictory information. You tried to follow diets but you didn’t like the food, you missed out on your favorite foods, or it was too complicated. Maybe you tried a diet for PCOS, but you didn’t lose weight, or you lost weight and regained it. Perhaps you feel like you failed or you didn’t have the discipline to do what you “needed” to do.

You are not alone. There is a reason why there is a diet industry with new diets to try every year⁠—there is no one diet that is the answer for long term health and weight loss. If there was, everyone would follow it and the diet industry would disappear.

The problem isn’t you, it’s the diets.

If someone just tells you what to eat, there’s a good chance you won’t like everything in the plan or someone in your family won’t want to eat it. Some plans might tell you to eat complicated meals that you don’t know how to prepare, or food that is too boring, or meals that leave you hungry or too full after you eat it. The problem with someone telling you exactly what to eat is that it doesn’t take into account your unique preferences and lifestyle. And if you don’t like the food or feel deprived, you are not going to stick with it.

So what’s a busy lady with PCOS supposed to do?

First take a deep breath. To use a cliche, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Making lasting changes to your lifestyle takes time. We can’t just flip a switch and suddenly do everything differently for the rest of our lives. When making changes to how you eat and your relationship with food, it’s best to go slowly and just make a few changes at a time.

The first step is to get off of the diet train. Diets are often damaging psychologically and physically, especially if you have PCOS, because they teach you not to trust your body’s hunger and fullness feelings. We feel our best when we listen to our bodies. Listening to and trusting your body can take practice if you are not used to it.

Here are a few other tips to get you on the right track to improve your PCOS symptoms. While there is no PCOS-specific diet, you can improve your symptoms by making some changes to how and what you eat. I recommend that you start with one or two goals and then add a new goal only after you feel comfortable with previous changes.

Eat something with carbohydrates and protein every 3-5 hours you are awake. Click here for snack ideas.
Try to make half of your plate fruits and especially vegetables at lunch and dinner. (Bonus if you can do breakfast, too!)
Limit regular consumption of sugary drinks since they cause your insulin to spike, make symptoms worse, and lead to sugar crashes.
Work in some splurge foods so you don’t feel deprived.
Start paying attention to how hungry and full you are.
Start working in some movement that you enjoy, regularly.

In future blogs, I will share more ways to help manage your PCOS symptoms, improve fertility and your overall health with nutrition and lifestyle changes.

If you would like to work with me for individual nutrition counseling, I would love to help you!

Click here to contact me.

What in the hell is PCOS why did it happen to me?

April 6, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Hello friends! Thank you for reading my first blog. Since I’m working with clients who have PCOS, I thought I would start by describing what it is exactly.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder which affects around 10% of women. It is often just thought of as something that affects women of reproductive age, but it does impact women even past menopause. Women with PCOS have some combination of high levels of androgens (male hormones) and insulin resistance which results in different symptoms for each person.

Two of the following symptoms need to be present in order to be diagnosed with PCOS:

inconsistent and/or lack of ovulation (oligo/anovulation)
increased male sex hormones (hyperandrogenism)
presence of “string of pearls” cysts on ovaries (polycystic ovaries)

Just because you don’t have cysts on your ovaries, doesn’t mean you don’t have PCOS!

Excessive male hormones can cause hair growth on face and body (hirsutism), male patterned hair loss, and acne. Insulin resistance cause weight gain, abdominal weight gain, difficulty losing weight, carbohydrate cravings, hypoglycemia, and darkening of some parts of your skin (especially around the neck).

Women who are diagnosed with PCOS are not usually surprised (see symptoms), but it often takes a long time to get diagnosed. It’s really common for teenagers with irregular periods to go on birth control to “fix it” without a proper diagnosis. Years can go but and they only get a diagnosis when they are trying to get pregnant. Other women have regular cycles and then gain weight out of nowhere. Most women I’ve met with PCOS always knew something was a bit off for them. The actual diagnosis is so helpful in order to takes steps to improve these symptoms and overall health.

Why did it happen to you (and me)? Genetics. It tends to run in families (but not always). Some research suggests exposure to elevated testosterone in the womb and can trigger it. The truth is that a lot more research needs to be done on this disorder because it’s not really well understood. Bottom line – it’s not your fault.