I hold 3 health science degrees plus a decade of clinical experience and I was diagnosed with PCOS more than 25 years ago...
And I stumbled and fell, too.
I knew when I consulted with an endocrinologist way back in the early years that it was up to me. See, I'd gone for help with my explosive weight gain. I played sport five times per week (netball for other Aussies and Kiwi's) and ate well under my recommended calorie intake. In essence, I was stressing my body further because I was starving myself.
He just looked at me and said, 'Eat less and exercise more'.
Really?
After waiting 40 minutes past my appointment time and without talking to me about my diet or levels of exercise he simple (and wrongly) said, 'It's all about calories in versus calories out!'
Guess what?
It wasn't and I remained unable to shed the dangerous fat.
Years later I saw a dietician who recommended I consume 5 - 6 portions of carbs per day. You know, bread, cereal, pasta... WHAT!!!
In those in-between years when I didn't know what I do now, I gained more weight, didn't have a natural period for 15 years - yes that's a decade and a half, my acne continued unabated, the excessive hair made me feel like an urban Yeti and I felt lost, fat, unfeminine and completely unlovable.
And none of the recommended food advice or diets worked!
But finally, after years of using myself as a veritable guinea pig, I discovered which foods help and which ones hinder... And when I supplemented with a freely available oil? My periods came back!
And those many moments and discoveries build upon one another until that unshakeable ah-ha moment that transformed my health and restored my wellbeing (and meant that I no longer fit the diagnosis for this 'incurable' syndrome).>