Episode #172: Amanda’s Story: Healing Through Blood Sugar Balance

Hi, and welcome back to the PCOS Repair Podcast, where today I’m excited to share a story that I find really inspiring for anyone—especially if you’ve felt like your PCOS symptoms are overwhelming, that you’re struggling with energy crashes, cravings, and irregular cycles, and it feels like your body is working against you.

In this story, Amanda felt really stuck in her cycle. It was incredibly frustrating for her. But she found power through balancing her blood sugar and making a few intentional changes that transformed her health—and her fertility. So I’m excited to share this story with you. Let’s go ahead and dive in.

Amanda originally reached out to me because she was concerned about her fertility. But her biggest day-to-day symptom was exhaustion. She felt completely drained. She’d been trying to lose weight for a few years, bouncing between various low-carb diets and intense cardio workouts. Then there were periods when she gave up altogether and just let life happen.

Her cycle was all over the place. Sometimes she’d miss a month; other times it would regulate for a bit—28 days, maybe 35—and then suddenly she’d go 60+ days without a period. She never knew what was going on. She was trying to conceive, but she wasn’t getting any helpful answers. Every OB visit ended with the same advice: “Lose weight and come back.” She didn’t feel heard. She was interested in fertility treatments but unsure what path she wanted to take. Because of that uncertainty, she felt like she didn’t even know what questions to ask. So they’d just push her off: “We’ll talk when you’re ready. But in the meantime, lose some weight, and things will go better.”

She also struggled with the whole idea of losing weight. She had intense sugar cravings and severe afternoon energy crashes. Even if she did everything “right” during the day, by mid-afternoon she felt like she had no self-control left. She’d reach a point where she just needed to get through the day—whatever it took—and told herself she’d try again tomorrow. This led to brain fog, difficulty focusing at work, bloating after meals, and overall discomfort—especially in her work clothes. She told me, “My body just feels broken.” It wasn’t just that the things she was trying weren’t working; she truly felt like her body itself wasn’t working properly. No matter how hard she tried, nothing made a difference. She felt restricted in food, constantly exhausted, and like she was pushing herself just to get by. She thought, “I’m too young to feel this way. It shouldn’t be this hard.”

After going through the PCOS Root Cause Bootcamp and taking the assessment, Amanda’s primary root cause stood out very clearly: insulin effect. Her symptoms, patterns, and labs were classic indicators of blood sugar imbalance, with elevated spikes in blood sugar and excessive insulin production.

But the real turning point came when she heard—really heard—that this wasn’t a willpower issue. It was something going on inside her body. She told me, “No one had ever explained that to me before. This isn’t about willpower—it’s about what’s happening in my body.” That mindset shift was huge for her.

She realized that the restriction she was practicing during the day left her with low blood sugar and no energy. Then she’d eat something that spiked her blood sugar really high, which would then crash dramatically. That spike also triggered a big release of insulin, which signaled her body to store fat. Then the cravings would come back even stronger, starting the whole cycle again. She was just a bystander in this rollercoaster of metabolic hormones.

Once she saw that connection, everything changed. She told me that moment—of understanding what was happening inside her body—was the most powerful part of her journey. She said, “I didn’t feel lazy or broken anymore. I realized my body was doing its best given the situation, and I wasn’t going to work against it anymore.” Once she embraced that, everything else began to fall into place. Yes, it was still hard work. Yes, it took time. But she no longer questioned if her body was the problem—or whether she was capable.

That’s when her healing process truly started. The first thing she changed was how she ate. But honestly, it wasn’t even about what she ate at first. She said the first thing was simply not skipping meals. She began eating breakfast—something with protein and fiber—to stabilize her morning blood sugar. The coolest part? It felt like less restriction. She had more energy. Her appetite finally felt balanced.

Eventually, she actually lost her appetite for the extreme cravings she used to have—but that led her to her next adjustment. She also started moving consistently and noticed how timing her movement made a big difference. She felt like it turbo-boosted the effects of what she was doing with her nutrition. That made exercise fun. It became something she wanted to do—not because she was forcing it, but because it helped her feel even better.

She made sleep a priority, added in some helpful supplements, and stayed consistent over the following months. She told me, “Sometimes I’d start something new, and the second it got hard, I’d quit.” But this time? It was hard—but within a week she already felt better. More energy. Less bloating. Fewer stomach issues. That alone made it worth continuing.

As the results started to build on each other, it wasn’t something she wanted to quit. In fact, when she had a few off days, she missed the way she felt and wanted to get back to it.

Beyond the physical changes, Amanda experienced something far more profound—and I think this is the real difference between a fad diet or yo-yo dieting and sustainable, root-cause healing. She began trusting her body. She didn’t feel trapped by food rules anymore. She didn’t panic when meals weren’t perfect. She learned that her body wasn’t broken—it was communicating. And she began listening.

Instead of seeing food as something to control or fear, she saw meals as opportunities to support her hormones. Her workouts became energizing instead of depleting or punishing. And for the first time in years, Amanda told me, “I actually feel at peace in my body.”

That shift—from punishment to partnership—is what stood out most to me and why I asked for Amanda’s permission to share her story here on the podcast. I think so many of us, when our lifestyle is contributing to symptoms, get stuck in “shoulds” and “have-tos.” It starts to feel like a punishment.

But when I listen to Amanda, it reminds me of my own journey—of discovering what my body really needed and how different it felt when I started working with my body instead of against it. It’s like that feeling at the end of a long winter, when the sun finally comes out on that first spring day—when it hits your face, and everything feels fresh and bright. That’s what it feels like when your body starts to feel good from the care you’re giving it.

So Amanda’s journey wasn’t just about blood sugar. While her root cause was insulin-related, this experience is something I see across many root causes. It’s about coming home to yourself—letting your body heal, instead of forcing it to perform without support.

Her story is just one of many that I’m fortunate to witness every month. But it’s a powerful reminder that healing PCOS isn’t about chasing the next diet or trendy protocol. It’s about understanding what your body needs and meeting it with kindness and consistency. That’s where real change happens.

So, if you’re struggling with energy crashes, cravings, irregular cycles, or fertility challenges, I encourage you to explore the resources we have here at Nourished to Healthy and dive into other podcast episodes. This is where the real magic happens. It’s not about perfectly prepped meals or a miracle method—it’s about nutrition, movement, mindset, and how those things transform your hormone health and PCOS symptoms.

As we wrap up today, if Amanda’s story resonated with you and you’re wondering where to start, head over to pcosrootcausebootcamp.com to get on the waitlist. In the meantime, take the PCOS Root Cause Quiz. I think even just taking the quiz will give you insight—because I ask about symptoms you might not usually associate with PCOS. Things like how you’re feeling throughout the day—your energy, your mood, your ability to focus. Those are often the most telling signs of what your body needs.

If you found this episode helpful, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss future episodes. And as always, you can find me on Instagram @nourishedtohealthy. Let me know if you have topics you’d love to hear more about.

Until next time, bye for now.