Working with a Nutritionist Week 2
So i think the quest I was dragging my feet on for basically a year and a half, was, “do i need a nutritionist/dietician with my PCOS diagnosis?” I can now say decidedly yes. Besides finding a doctor who would listen to me (the single most important decision I made on this journey), finding a nutritionist/dietitian was instrumental to my recovery journey. I initially thought that I could find all the answers on my own by following different instagram nutritionists and reading a host of books on the subject. Like so many thought, I’m way more likely to follow through with something if I’m invested monetarily.
When we met the second time, the nutritionist set a few ground rules for me. This was the beginning of my food education and lesson on nutrition. What did I actually need to eat? Here came some guidelines:
Cutting dairy
Cutting gluten
Cutting refined/vegetable/seed oils (that are inflammatory).
Drink very limited alcohol (sticking with tequila).
Cut out packaged foods with ingredients you don’t recognize (she told me any "gums” like xantham gum are tough for your digestion if that’s an issue for you).
Eat more food earlier in the day. Ideally you want dinner to be your smallest meal so you can burn off those calories.
Remove added sweeteners and fake sugars (that’s right, none of the diet stuff or sugar alcohols)
Honestly, I think one of the hardest things that happens with any kind of diagnosis when you have to overhaul your lifestyle is mourning a loss of your previous life. It’s so hard to give up pasta, yogurt, ice cream. We want to be healed, and to feel better, but there’s also a sadness to the restriction. I’m in the middle of my own weight loss journey as well, so remember if you’re trying to keep weight on or experiencing something different, always consult with your health care provider if you can.
It just so happened that during week 2 I had planned a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, known for breweries. It was disappointing to go and not be able to partake. Luckily, many places are starting to offer gluten free options and non-alcoholic (NA) options. I did sneak a hard kombucha in lieu of beer, but I was able to pick out my meals with the nutritionist in advance which was incredibly beneficial.
A thing to note:
I think it’s incredibly hard to not have any cheat food or feel like you can’t indulge at all . So I found a few brands that have served me:
Bread: Unbun Bread
Chocolate: Hu Kitchen
Popcorn: Lesser Evil
In my next post about working with a nutritionist, I’ll share how it went!
