Egg quality is so important.
So many of you have questions about egg quality and PCOS, does it impact it?
And that's exactly what I'm going to talk about today in this video.
I'm actually going to give you my five tips, my five steps to improve egg quality when
you have PCOS.
I also want to ask you all what your biggest concern is regarding PCOS.
So if you have PCOS, what's your biggest concern?
I want to hear from you.
I want you to comment below in the comment section, because I want to compile all of
those questions, all those concerns, and see if I missed anything and then create another
video to make sure that I encompass all of that in there for you.
I want to make sure that all your questions about PCOS are answered.
So comment below with those so that I can support you and answer those in the next video.
But until we get to your comments and questions regarding PCOS, in this video, we're going
to talk about egg quality in PCOS.
And one of the good things is that it is manageable, you can address it and improve it with the
right plan, the right steps, and the right determination on your part.
And that's why, again, I'm going to talk about the five steps you need to take to improve
your egg quality when you have PCOS in this video.
So I want you to keep watching to learn more.
Before I jump into this topic, I do want to give a shout out to the sponsor of this week's
video, the FertileMind app.
If you haven't already checked it out, I have mentioned it in previous videos, I want you
to do so.
The feedback has been amazing.
Stress when it comes to fertility has been such a major issue, especially with those
women with PCOS.
So I want to invite you to check out this free trial, it's a 30 day trial, of the FertileMind
app just by using the link in the description below.
So step number one is all about diet and lifestyle.
I know you've heard me talk about this before, but I cannot leave it out, and it's step number
one, because it is the most important thing.
It is the foundational thing that you need to do to improve and manage your PCOS.
I don't think that's the case with other fertility or reproductive related issues, but PCOS,
absolutely, 100%, that first foundational thing that needs to be done is diet and lifestyle.
And one of the questions I've been getting frequently in the last month, as we've been
talking about this, is, "What can I do?
How can I support myself?
How can I manage my PCOS and my hormones?"
Right here this is the first thing you need to be doing is improving and managing your
diet and lifestyle.
So what exactly do I mean by that?
First and foremost, when it comes to diet, you need to have a much lower carb intake.
Spoke to a woman yesterday.
She has PCOS.
And when I looked at her diet, she had tons of carbs.
Bread, pasta, sandwiches, sugar.
She even asked the question, so sugar's a no-no, and she said, "I have a lot of sugar
cravings.
Is that a problem?"
And the sugar cravings aren't a problem, controlling them is.
And the reason we have that is because we haven't managed our blood sugar and managed
our carb intake.
So we need to do that.
I want you to have whole foods, whole grains.
I want you to have your grains if you're going to have them, except for wheat, you can have
some rice, not a ton, when it comes to grains.
But I want you to focus on fat, protein, and vegetables.
That's really where your diet needs to be focused on when we're talking about improving
our diet and lowering our carbon intake.
It will be hard to curb our sugar cravings, but that will happen over time.
I believe that it will.
And on top of it, once we start to get in and balance your hormones, that will settle
down.
So those are some just simple tips, but if you're not doing them and doing them consistently,
you need to now.
Number two when it comes to this topic is lifestyle changes.
What do I mean by that?
Specifically exercise?
Most of you with a classical presentation of PCOS are not exercising enough.
I don't mean that it needs to be difficult or heavy in weights.
I just need you walking for 45 to 60 minutes every day.
That's what my goal would be for you.
Not hard.
You're not going for a crazy hike.
You're just going for a nice walk with a purpose.
And if you have an atypical presentation and you're thinner, I don't want you doing too
much.
I actually spoke to another woman earlier, I think it was about two or three days ago,
and she has an atypical form of PCOS, and she is an avid exercise person.
Her job is actually to spin.
She's a spin instructor.
So we want to let go of that.
We have to actually reduce that extreme exercise, lower in frequency and intensity.
So those are my two main tips in my first step to controlling your PCOS and improving
your egg quality.
Step number two, regulate your hormones.
This sounds easier than it actually is.
So it's very common with PCOS that your hormones are going to be a little bit out of balance.
And for each one of you, those hormones might be a little bit different, but a theme and
a trend that is often consistent across the board when we look at all types of women with
PCOS is that we see an irregularity with your FSH levels and your estradiol or E2.
We typically see those be too high.
We want to lower those and regulate those hormones.
That is going to be really, really important to number one, regulating your cycle and having
a consistent ovulation, whatever that would be.
And number two, to improving egg quality.
This video's about improving egg quality, and FSH and estradiol are two key hormones
when it comes to egg quality.
The higher those numbers go up, the more impacted your egg quality is.
So we want to decrease those numbers, not extreme.
There are normal ranges that we need to manage when we're talking about especially estradiol,
but we do need to regulate those.
So often we see those higher and we want to see that sweet spot for estrogen be somewhere
between 30 and 60.
It can go as high as 75 or 80, but we don't really want it below 20.
But that sweet spot is right in the middle.
An FSH we'd like to see between 5 and 10.
Together those two would be balanced, will show that you've improved your egg quality
and regulated your hormones, so then hopefully what we're seeing when that happens is that
you have a regular and consistent predictable cycle and ovulation, which will make it much
easier to conceive, and on top of that, your egg quality will be improved as well, which
will make it better when we do create that embryo.
So this is a key factor.
Now I know the question that's going to be asked when I'm talking about this, "Well,
what can I do to improve my hormones?"
Well, the first thing you need to do is get those hormones tested.
You often hear me say it, test don't guess.
So step number one about this process is getting tested and understanding what your hormones
actually look like.
And then from there, you can get the right guidance to support you and regulate those
hormones.
I don't have specific recommendations today about those because each one of you is going
to have a different pattern that presents itself.
This is where coaching really comes in and really getting personalized guidance for each
one of you is so valuable and important, because without that, we often find that you don't
quite go down the right road or make the right decisions with your hormones to get the results
that you deserve.
All right, step number three, manage your stress.
Everyone always says, "Oh, you're too stressed.
Just relax, and you'll get pregnant."
I hate hearing that, but there is a reason why they say it because stress absolutely
impacts your hormones, impacts your fertility, impacts your egg quality, and for sure impacts
your PCOS.
And this I see in about 80% of the women that I work with.
And this actually brings me back to a story of a woman who I helped conceive, and actually
she didn't ever come to see me in the beginning to conceive.
She just wanted to regulate her PCOS and her hormones so she would have a regular cycle
and feel better, which I love to hear.
Her number one variable was stress, and we would get her cycle regular, and then four
months, five months, six months down the road, something would change at work or her personal
life, she'd become more stressed and her cycles would become irregular.
And invariably she would reach out to me and say, "Well, what do you think's going on today?"
And my first question back to her was, "What changed?
What has caused you to have more stress?"
And she goes, "Actually, you're correct.
Work has been really stressful recently and that's been difficult for me to manage."
And I said, "Okay, well now you need to do more for yourself to manage your stress."
So this is such a big piece to the puzzle.
And again, I see this in about 80% of all women with PCOS because your adrenal function
impacts your endocrine system.
Another way to say that is your stress hormones impact your reproductive hormones and will
cause your ovulation to be irregular.
I want to keep it simple, because I want you to hear that and digest it and recognize that.
Now, what do you do about it?
Well, in the beginning of this video, I did share that the sponsor of this video is the
FertileMind app.
So that is step number one that I do recommend right now for everybody.
Why?
Because the feedback has really, really been tremendous.
All the women in my HOPE coaching program get this app and this program as part of the
HOPE coaching program, and when they do it, and their feedback to me has been tremendous,
they really love the guidance, the meditation, the mindfulness, that's being taught to them,
and they're really incorporating it.
And that's the key is incorporating it into your day on a regular basis so that you can
start to regulate your stress response and your adrenal response to control your stress
levels.
Now that's not the only thing you can do.
There's a lot of other things like getting outside, getting in nature, going for a walk
along the beach, going for a hike.
Whatever you need to do for yourself, that's going to allow your body to regulate and de-stress,
I want you to do, but that's not sitting in front of the TV and zoning out.
That's doing something proactive.
So step number three is manage your stress.
Step number four is managing and supporting your femininity and creativity.
This sounds or may sound odd to many of you, but because PCOS increases our androgen levels,
hence testosterone, or DHEA, we have a tendency to be more masculine in nature and not be
in touch with our femininity.
I want you to spend a little time getting more in touch with your femininity and creativity.
That is super valuable.
We need to incorporate that more into our life and into our routine.
So that's going to be different for each one of you.
I think the first thing that I would recommend when it comes to this is journaling.
Journaling helps you express yourself, get your emotions out, and you can also be creative
in that nature.
The other thing that you can do with journaling is recognize what is off and how, or come
up with solutions or ideas of what you can do to start to connect with those things a
little bit more.
Maybe it's playing music.
Maybe it's actually learning music or playing music physically versus just playing music
audio and listening.
Although that's fine as well.
Maybe it's being creative in a different way.
Maybe it's writing or doing art.
Whatever that might be for you, I want you all to become more in tune and more connected
with that.
This will help your stress levels, help your creativity as well, and just help you become
more in tune with your body, which is a key piece to the whole puzzle of improving egg
quality.
And step number five, be accountable to yourself.
This is hard.
This is potentially a long journey, and this is not an overnight fix.
Even if you do get things relatively quickly, just like some of the stories I've shared
previously, it can go south real quick if you don't manage these things ongoingly.
It doesn't mean you have to be perfect all the time, but it does mean that in general,
overall, you want to be striving to do most of these recommendations on a regular basis
to help keep things balanced.
If we have any goal and hope of managing our PCOS long term, regulating our hormones, improving
our egg quality, these changes need to be consistent.
And that's not easy, because it takes patience, it takes a lot of consistency and determination
on your part.
The most important thing, and one of the most valuable pieces to being consistent and being
able to see this work for you over long term is getting the support and coaching that you
need and deserve.
Those women who get the coaching, get the mentorship, and get the support to lean on
someone when things go south always make the changes faster and get things back to normal
and balance as quickly as possible.
So I can't stress this piece enough.
We all need guidance and support.
You need it as well, and I want to encourage you to find that support.
If you want coaching and support and guidance for me and my team, then I do want to invite
you to join my HOPE coaching program.
This is where I personally support you on your fertility journey, that I get my eyes
on your case and help you create a personalized plan to get you the results that you need
and deserve.
This is not for everyone, but if it is for you, then I want to invite you to apply by
using the link in the description below.
If you are looking for additional resources to help you on your fertility journey, managing
your PCOS, and improving your egg quality, then I have created a free fertility guide
that I think is wonderful.
The feedback has been great, and I think you're going to find it really useful.
All you have to do to download that and start to utilize the tips and tools and resources
that I include in there is use the link in the description below.
If you liked this video, then give it a thumbs up.
If you have questions about PCOS ,egg quality, or your fertility needs, then just leave a
comment below.
I will get back to you as soon as I can.
And if you're not already a subscriber to my YouTube channel, then hit that bell to
subscribe and get notified when I put out a new video for all of you.
And until the next video, stay fertile.