PCOS Fertility Holiday Blog

6 Steps to Repairing Your PCOS Fertility This Holiday

Happy Healthy Hormones for the Holidays!

 

Move it, Love it, Rest it.
The holidays made me more aware of my PCOS fertility struggles. All the childhood memories, friends, and family with little ones and the secret thought of how special it would be to get pregnant during the holiday season. 

As the holiday season gets hectic, it’s really easy to justify skipping your workouts, self-care, and even cutting down on your sleep. This is the danger zone. Lack of sleep will lead to poor choices. And I don’t have to tell you what happens when you give up your self-care routines — PCOS fertility havoc, stress, anxiety, and so on.

The holiday season is filled with extra things to do. Some are events and gatherings that we look forward to all year, others are just extra things we have to do. Either way, when our schedule gets full our health is often the first thing that takes the hit. This is why a plan is important. In this post, I’ll walk you through my healthy happy hormone holiday plan that has worked for me the last several years. I even found out I was pregnant one Christmas Day because of it!

 

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present and hope for the future” 

~ Agnes M. Pahro

1 Don’t Skip Meals

It’s tempting to skip meals when you know you have a big party to go to or a holiday dinner to attend. But this is the worst thing you can do for your PCOS fertility hormones. Skipping meals always leads to overeating. Eat a lighter breakfast, lunch, and snack to give yourself some room for a moderate splurge. Choose your indulgence wisely and make sure it’s worth it.

 

2 Bring a Healthy Dish

If you’re headed to a private residence, offer to bring a healthy dish. Not only is this a kind gesture to the host who is probably over-stressed with all the preparation. But it will also guarantee that you have something healthy and enjoyable to eat to nourish your PCOS fertiltiy. Need a healthy recipe? You can grab my PCOS holiday recipe pack here. 

 

pcos holiday blog image

3 Indulge and enjoy 

While choosing healthy foods, carving out some room for a few of your favorite holiday indulgences.  This is just as important as eating to nourish, so select a few indulgences during the holidays is too. 

You’ve likely heard me say this before but….while we want to feel great, have lots of energy, and fully functioning fertility, it’s also important to enjoy life and all it has to offer! 

So instead of mindlessly eating whatever comes your way this holiday be selective. 

What are some of your favorite decadent treats that you look forward to all year? Save your indulgence for those items and stick with the healthier options for the rest of the time. 

4 Pass on the “Good” Foods

If you have hung out with me for any length of time, you are familiar with my saying that indulgences must be mind-blowingly good. So if you take a bite of something and the reality of the taste doesn’t meet your expectations, stop eating it. There’s no reason to spend your precious splurge on something that’s only “good”.

5 Plan Seconds

It’s perfectly okay to indulge moderately, in fact, I totally advise it. But you need to be very selective about what earns its way onto your second helping. If you’re going back for seconds, the food has to earn its way onto your plate. How? By being mind-blowingly good, of course.

Even then it’s probably not worth it. Studies have shown that “food orgasm” only lasts for approximately 3 minutes. Think about that second-holiday treat, is it worth feeling poorly for only 3 minutes of joy? Probably not.

6 Ignore the Guilt Servings

At every party or food celebration, there is certainly going to be one or more food pushers who make it their mission to get you to eat something off-plan. You’re an adult, so act like one! Nobody can guilt you into eating anything without your permission.

It’s NOT rude to politely say no. Your PCOS fertility health, your goals, and your skinny jeans are way more important than the food pusher’s desires. Even if it’s Aunt Mildred with the fruitcake!

 

Finding peace and joy

Peace and joy come more from our efforts and intentions than from our current reality. While dreams, goals, wishes, and desires are what keep life fun and exciting as we remain hopeful and have something to work towards, these desires aren’t what bring us peace and joy. 

Peace comes with clarity and acceptance. Joy is found when we have the space to be present and we are happy and content with the direction we are headed. 

pcos holiday blog image 3

New year new you

Enter the new year with your health revved and ready to excel instead of by making resolutions to do better yet again  

Fertility struggles at the holidays are a serious emotional roller coaster! The holiday magic of the season fills you with hope and longing. All the activities for kids and families are a constant reminder of wanting it to be your turn.  

I’ve been there and the thing that helped the most was taking a step back, taking a deep breath, and determining what was within my control. 

When I dig into better health for my hormones and fertility it’s not a list of restrictions and lengthy strenuous workouts. Instead, it takes on a feeling of self-care

  • A hot shower or bath to unwind after a hard day 
  • A cup of herbal tea instead of soda at night to ease digestion and promote gut health 
  • A walk or run depending on your fitness level to fill my lungs with oxygen and get my blood pumping 
  • A rich green salad to provide all sorts of delicious nutrients for my hormones to thrive 

Not only does leaning into health make you feel better, improve your energy, and assist your fertility, but the positive action brings peace and purpose. Finding peace and feeling better allows room for the joys of the season to be enjoyed 

The PCOS Holiday Cookbook

  • 35 healthy recipes with the holiday flavors you love
  • Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Sides, and Desserts
  • Enjoy everything the holiday has to offer without the guilt
PCOS Holiday Recipe Pack

Wishing you a magical holiday season

My wish for you this holiday is that you can step back from the shoulds and the stress and find moments of joy! Bask in these moments and let your inner child shine bright with all the fun and excitement that surrounds this time of year. 

 

 

Ashlene Korcek PA-C 

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again! 

Read more about my story of how I repaired my fertiltiy and cracked my weight struggle code for good here!

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