April 25, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of MilesFromHerView, powered by KatFit Strength, host Kat interviews Liz Schonthal, a registered dietitian specializing in PCOS, prenatal perinatal nutrition, and disordered eating. Liz shares her insights into PCOS, its symptoms, diagnosis, and common misconceptions. The conversation delves into how nutrition can play a pivotal role in managing PCOS and the importance of intuitive eating. They discuss the impacts of diet culture, the necessity of sustainable nutrition practices, and the role of social and emotional well-being in overall health.
Connect with Liz:
https://yournutritionpartner.com/
lizschonthal@gmail.com
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00:00 Welcome to MilesFromHerView
00:48 Meet Liz Schonthal: Expert in Nutrition
02:07 Understanding PCOS: Symptoms and Diagnosis
06:19 Debunking Nutrition Myths for PCOS
10:24 The Importance of Sustainable Health Practices
19:30 Challenges and Misconceptions in PCOS Management
23:42 The Diet Cycle and PCOS
24:34 Rethinking Food Choices
26:36 Embracing Flexibility in Eating
27:56 The Role of Social Connections
32:48 Understanding Processed Foods
38:25 Finding the Right Support
40:00 Conclusion and Contact Information
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kat (00:00):
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, the podcast
powered by KatFit Strength,where busy women like you find
practical solutions to fuel yourfitness journey with
authenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
and an ultra marathon runner anda strength trainer in her
forties with nearly two decadesof experience.
(00:21):
I'm here to help you cut throughthe noise of fads, hacks, and
quick fixes.
This is a space where wecelebrate womanhood and
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
Whether you're lacing up yourrunning shoes to go out for a
run, driving your kids topractice or squeezing in a
(00:42):
moment for yourself, I'm righthere in the trenches with you.
Let's dive in.
Liz Schonthal is a registereddietician with over 10 years of
experience specializing in PCOS,prenatal perinatal nutrition,
and disordered eating.
As the founder of your nutritionpartner LLC, Liz has spent the f
(01:06):
the past five years helpingclients cultivate healthier
relationships with food usingintuitive eating principles.
She combines her extensivenutrition knowledge with
compassionate client-centeredapproach to foster lasting
change.
Liz earned her master's degreein nutrition from the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro,and has built a strong
(01:27):
foundation in evidence-basedpractices throughout her career.
Her passion for supportingindividuals through their unique
nutritional journeys drives hercommitment to creating a safe
and non nonjudgmentalenvironment for her clients.
Liz enjoys spending our timewith her husband and 8-year-old
daughter outside of our practicein Westchester.
Welcome.
(01:47):
I'm so excited to have you heretoday.
How are you?
Liz (01:51):
I'm good.
Thanks Kat.
I'm happy to be here today.
Kat (01:54):
We have, a lot to talk about and, I love.
I love your evidence-basedpractice and providing that
compassion, especiallysurrounding nutrition and
women's health and nutrition.
Today we're gonna be primarilytalking about PCOS and what it
is, what it is not, to providethat knowledge and education
(02:17):
backed understanding from anexpert.
So.
Let's just dive in.
Let's start with what is PCOS?
Liz (02:26):
So, PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome.
It is.
It can sometimes be like thisumbrella condition.
So not everybody with PCOS hasthe same symptoms.
One of the reasons why it can beconfusing.
So normally you're gonna have,there's some potential criteria.
(02:46):
You need to have several ofthese in order to get diagnosed.
Like a lot of this, there'sgonna be some, some nuance with
it.
And I've had a lot of clients.
Who had one doctor say that theythink they don't have it.
Other ones think they do.
So a lot of times, you know,there is criteria, but again,
people get, get missed mixedmessages.
Usually it's gonna be, notovulating or having regular
(03:09):
cycles.
I think it's about eight, eightor less a year would be kind of
official count.
It's going to be having somemarkers of higher androgens like
testosterone.
This can also manifest in, insigns and symptoms on your body,
so that might be.
(03:30):
Acne hair growth on like yourface or chest thinning hair on
your head.
Also there could be with anultrasound to see what's
actually going on on the ovary.
So it's, again, it's kind of amisnomer.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome,when really it's follicles is
the actual actually what's goingon on the ovary.
(03:52):
And you'd kind of would, itwould look like a string of
pearls.
So a bunch of immature folliclesthat aren't maturing enough to
develop to ovulate.
And you can sometimes see thaton, on the ovary, when you're
looking at the ultrasound you'realso going to see sometimes some
meta it can manifest with somemetabolic symptoms.
So that being like elevated ininsulin blood sugar, sometimes
(04:18):
that could also mean bloodpressure, cholesterol.
These things can kind of also bepresent.
That's not usually enough todiagnose on its own, but it's
something that.
People would be on the lookoutfor too.
Kat (04:32):
Does PCOS, is it one of those things where you're born
with it or can it develop laterin life?
Liz (04:41):
Like so many conditions that happen in female born
populations, it is underresearched underfunded so kind
of, this is sort of like thebest.
We got with more room to learnmore.
So kind of what's bestunderstood is that it's a
condition that you are bornwith.
(05:01):
That, or that could be kind ofturned on some kind of something
happens environmentally orwhatever that could cause it to
like show up.
But it can run in families.
A lot of times that when you goback a generation or two, then
no, nobody knows what this is.
It's was not really diagnosed.
It didn't mean it didn't exist.
(05:22):
It's been around forever.
But it just wasn't diagnosed.
It didn't, like, it didn't, itwasn't showing up Even now.
It shows up in about ballparkeight to 12.
14% of the female bornpopulation potentially have
PCOS, but it's still a, a lot ofpeople don't even know what it
(05:43):
is.
But it's relatively common.
So yes, it can believe to besomething that people are born
with, but symptoms wouldn't showup till puberty until cycles are
gonna start.
Is kind of how it, it goes for alot of people.
Kat (06:01):
that makes sense.
And the one thing I wannahighlight there is.
A lot of funding for females areso it's underfunded we're
learning still so much aboutwomen's health because it has
historically been underfundedand historically women have not
been included in trials orstudies.
Looking in the frame ofnutrition, I, I, I tend to hear
(06:21):
clients like, oh, I've been toldI need to avoid all carbs.
I need to avoid all this.
I need to only intermittentfast.
I need to do an insert whateverhere.
I'm gonna issue this with adisclaimer.
Everything on this podcast ishere to educate and inform, and
if you, if something resonateswith you, have a conversation
with Liz and her informationwill be at the end and in the
show notes or contact your owndoctor or speak with your own
(06:46):
registered dietician.
Is there validity to avoidingcertain foods or is there a
certain way?
And again, this isgeneralization because as you
have already pointed out, it isunique to each individual.
And, and even in general, I'llsay with strength training and
nutrition, it is unique to eachindividual.
(07:06):
So that's nothing new with justPCOS, but are there certain
things that you see
Liz (07:13):
So at the, the root of PCOS, what's kind of driving a
lot of symptoms that people areexperiencing.
Is, is believed to be that thoseelevated androgens, so that
would be like the elevated malehormones or and or insulin
resistance.
So again, there's ballpark parknumbers of, of how much people
(07:33):
think ins they have insulinresistance as part of this.
So like in theory kind of trfrom a nutrition standpoint,
it's like how can we.
Treat the insulin resistance andthese can kind of play off of
each other.
Like if we could insulinresistance improved, then we can
kind of drive down some of thosehormones that might be kind of
(07:54):
showing up in people.
However.
The, like, everyone's situationis different and depending on
where someone's coming from.
So like in a nutritionappointment, no matter who it
is, just gathering informationbefore I'm making re
recommendations because when I'mlooking for, for everyone I, I
talk to, even if, when I talk tothem on the phone, they're like,
(08:15):
my problem is I'm eating toomuch.
I'm binging.
I'm starting from is are youeating enough that that is
often, I mean, sometimes that'swhere people are, are wondering,
but a lot of times, especiallywith PCOS, that's not on the
radar, but that's where I startfrom.
Are we eating enough?
Are we eating regularly?
Are we having a good amount ofvariety?
(08:36):
So it's really basic.
Before even getting intospecific types of food,
combinations of food,carbohydrates, all the things,
it's like, are we eating enough?
And then when we get into theregularity, it's like timing,
part of the timing of the dayand, and getting into variety.
And I think this is reallyimportant because where people,
(08:57):
unfortunately, when there is alack of research, then there
becomes a vacuum of informationout in the wild being.
Social media and the internet.
So we, so then there, there isinformation out there.
People start Googling or goingTikTok.
There's there, there's peoplewho are gonna say, I have the
answers for you.
(09:17):
You just do this, this workedfor me, so you should do this
too.
Which is kind of a red flagunfortunately.
It's like, you know, and, andmaybe it did work for that
person, but it doesn't mean it'slike gonna work for every other
individual.
So I don't even remember whatyour question was.
You, you answered it.
(09:38):
Yeah.
It was like more about like thewhole, strict low car, no car
keto that like what is all that,And it is, you know, you hit the
nail of the head.
I mean, when you, there becomesthat vacuum of information
because people want a solution.
And it's not that there aren't,but I find it's, you have to.
Understand you, and also to yourearlier point is, are you eating
(10:03):
enough?
Sometimes we do feel like we'reeating enough and maybe we are,
but it's stacked on the eveningand not in the morning.
Mm-hmm.
And that leads to thatuncontrollable urge to eat
everything.
Yes.
And things that maybe you knewyou just didn't want to eat, but
because you were so hungry, youate.
(10:24):
what works for you and having anexpert that understands that
what works for one person oreven themselves is not the one
size fits all that will work forevery person because that it
doesn't work like that at all,so, mm-hmm.
That's why I know I cringe, inthe fitness side of it when I
see do this one workout is theabsolutism for stopping this.
(10:48):
Please run from that.
That is a huge red flag becausethere is no one specific workout
that is going to do it all.
'cause it just, it just doesn'twork like that.
Yep.
I could speak more to like thecarbohydrates too.
Yeah.
Because I think that was youractual question.
Or people get told with PCOS golow carb or go keto.
(11:09):
And a lot of times that iscoming from even medical
professionals, from doctors.
I think the thing to keep inmind is.
Again, there's, there's thingsaren't black and white and there
is some nuance to this.
So sometimes the people, peoplewill often say, well, this
really worked for me.
Like I, whenever I've done lowcarb, it's been the only thing
(11:31):
that's worked for me.
And so when I kind of play thatback to people, it's like, well,
okay, so what do you mean byworked?
Because, okay, so that mightmean weight loss symptoms
improved.
It might've helped withfertility.
It might've like actually doneall of the things, address the
problems.
(11:52):
But it's like, well then I willask then why did you stop doing
it?
And that's the key, is thatsustainable long-term like
nuance is so much.
More important than somethingthat's going to be short term,
(12:13):
but ultimately unsustainable.
And that's what can happen withlow carb diets.
I feel like it would be veryrare to have someone who can
follow a low carb or keto dietforever without disordered
eating like, and that that couldbe that.
'cause for most people, I thinkthe normal response to that is
(12:36):
binging.
Like.
Is is when you are, you know,either holidays, birthdays,
vacation or, or sometimes it'sjust like a stressful day.
I'm just gonna have one bite andone bite of something.
With carbohydrates.
Can feel like you've ruined yourdiet and can be like, well, I'm
(12:59):
going to.
Eat all of the sugar, then getit outta the house and then
start over Monday, which kind ofpromotes that diet, cycling that
back and forth and back andforth, which even if you have
lost weight following this lowcarb diet, when you lose weight,
you don't just lose fat, youlose a lot of muscle.
And when you regain weight, alot of times you regain it as
(13:22):
fat.
So it ends up working againstpeople.
With their long-term goals.
And that can really be reallyfrustrating for people.
So if we take a slower approach,we can kind of avoid some of
those problems that can happenwith that back and forth of diet
cycling.
Kat (13:38):
Yeah.
And I like what you said thereit is.
It's, you know, why did you stopif it worked before, why did you
stop?
And I think that is a question,we don't often think about.
You know, if it did work, itshould be sustainable.
it should, you know, and Ialways press upon like the, the
whole goal of building strengthor changing that body
(14:00):
composition isn't to constantlybe in the state of change, but
to get us to a point where weare maintaining that we can
maintain our routine.
There's gonna be someflexibility because we need
flexibility in life.
I talk with my clients a lotabout is we need to be able to.
Not never miss a workout, but beable to adapt our workouts and
(14:23):
our plans with life withoutfeeling this.
Now I have to get back on thewagon again.
Now I have to get back on thethe track again.
It's no on or off.
It's let's adapt because ifwe're sustaining this for a
lifetime, we need to work withourselves.
And I like how.
Your ideologies around this, onhow decoding it for the
(14:46):
individual of breaking that dietcycle.
Something that I think we fallinto, whether we are aware or
unaware, or we maybe were awareat one point and then we just
routinely do it because we'vebecome unaware of, okay, I can
white knuckle it for a littlebit here and then holidays, pop
(15:07):
up, vacations, and then it's.
This guilt and shame and now Ihave to white knuckle it again
to get back to where I wanted togo.
And another point you said, andI think this is something that
isn't talked about enough, iswhen you lose weight, it does
not discern against muscle orfact.
(15:29):
It is just an overall weight,weight loss.
And it is very critical.
And yes, it is critical forwomen.
After the age of 30 and we losethree to 8% of muscle mass.
And then when we get into ourforties and we're in that
perimenopause flex, I'm gonnacall it to menopause, our muscle
(15:49):
mass loss is accelerated and ifyou are under muscle, but yeah,
you might be at a healthy BMI ora healthy weight.
That isn't going to be healthyfor you.
You become frail and that's notgood.
Or if someone is in that weightloss area and they lose weight,
(16:10):
but they're losing more muscle,they're not having that
component of strength trainingon the other side.
It.
It could be really bad, youknow, for them, they could be
setting themselves upinadvertently still for some
metabolic syndrome despite,creating some change.
So, I don't know if you also seethat, but like, that's one thing
I'm like, guys, let's, we don't,you don't have to do it all at
(16:32):
the same time.
Mm-hmm.
But start to work in where itfeels good for you.
Liz (16:37):
Right.
I feel like I talk a lot withpeople about.
What does a lot of times ifwe're, we're trying to work on
workout, exercise, or nutrition,that they're trying to be
healthy.
And so if we think about whatdoes health mean?
Like a lot of times,unfortunately, it's very much
overlapped with, with weight.
It's like, you know, if you loseweight by any means necessary,
(17:00):
that's good and that's healthy.
But it's so much more complexthan that.
There's other components ofhealth besides.
Calories in, calories out orexercise.
And, stress.
Everybody's busy, especiallylike in that frame of life,
working kids, family,everything.
People are stressed.
(17:21):
We need to think about what canwe do that feels sustainable and
working with your limited timeand family and.
Also getting enough sleepbecause these are things that
drive blood sugar.
It's like if we're not gettingenough sleep, if we're feeling
really stressed, these thingsare gonna work against you
metabolically too.
So I kind of feel like when Iwork with people, it's also
(17:43):
talking about how do we work onthose obstacles to life, like
and some of those might even belike how important it is if you
are the primary cook.
To try to make meals that workfor your whole family too.
Instead of doing, if you gosuper low carb keto, a lot of
times that means you're makingsomething different for you and
then the kids, and then the kidsdon't like all the things, so
(18:04):
you gotta do different thingsfor different kids and it's
absolutely exhausting.
So it's like, where can we, forthe most part, make life easier
for you?
Also as a, I'm just gonna say amom, that might not be everybody
listening, but a lot of times itis.
It's like, how can we.
Take some of some things offyour plate and that might not
be, you know, so there's valuefor your health in not stressing
(18:29):
yourself out by doing somethingthat's taking up all so much of
your time too.
Kat (18:34):
I love what you all that, what that you said there I think
sleep.
Is not talked about enough as tohow valuable it is for hormones,
blood sugar regulation, stressmitigation, lowering the
cortisol, but we have that sameprinciple of looking at the
whole client looking at, okay,everybody has 24 hours in a day,
(18:56):
but everybody's 24 hours istotally different.
But what can we do to mitigatethe stress and allow you to have
that change knowing you are notthe only person you're caring
for?
And that is huge.
See a change that doesn't haveto be restrictive or preventing
yourself from living and fullyenjoying who you are, who you
(19:20):
wanna be, and what you wanna beinvolved with.
So, yes, definitely.
Yeah.
PCOS there's still so much morethat we need to understand with
it.
Liz (19:31):
Not everybody with PCOS is in a larger body, but a lot of
times they are, especially ifthey're running into challenges
with healthcare, with medicalproviders or, or why they're
prob not, again, not everybody,but if they're seeking help with
nutrition, a lot of times thatis the case.
So.
Given that a lot of times therepeople have had challenging
(19:53):
experiences in that space and abig one being that they're not
believed.
'cause I feel like, especiallywith PCOS, when you have these
hormones that can promote weightgain, so insulin levels are
often high with people withPCOS.
So that can, that's a storagehormone.
So when you do eat that kind ofcan make your body hold on to
(20:14):
more weight.
And like the testosterone cankind of play off of that as
well.
So there are, there are peopleout there who are eating very
restrictive diets and overexercising who are in larger
bodies and that a lot of timesthat is just not understood or
believed and that's very, veryfrustrating.
(20:36):
So anyway.
Whereas a kind of a goodstarting off point, like if
somebody's kind of eating,regularly eating, then, then
it's, then I think thinkingabout that's where the balancing
the carbohydrates along withprotein, which is not gonna
affect blood sugar as much, andfoods with higher fiber.
(20:56):
So those could be carbohydratesthat are higher fiber.
That's where getting your fruitsand vegetables in can be
important, but, but ifsomebody's like not eating.
Or has been like on like onediet after another.
I'm not gonna start and say likeprotein and and vegetables
because that just is going toimmediately turn into another
diet.
(21:17):
And that's kind of not thepoint.
So that's where it's like,again, I'm just tons of, tons of
nuance, but, but there can be,it's like, okay, like it might
even be a matter of how could weshift things around on your
plate.
A big thing I talk to talk aboutwith people I.
Is, and this is where intuitiveeating, which I mentioned in my
(21:39):
bio, it comes into play.
But learning to feel, learningto see, to read your own cues
about what your body's tellingyou.
Now, the term intuitive eatingis, is more than just eating
when you're hungry, stuffingwhen you're full.
There's a lot more to it thanthat.
But a lot of people aredisconnected from hunger cues
and fullness cues.
(22:00):
Or, and that is, is really kindof a result of dieting because
when you're dieting, even thoughwe don't, dieting is not a
popular word anymore.
We know we do like, it'swellness culture.
It's like cleanses.
It's whatevers.
It's, but let's just, it's gonnacall it what it is.
It's, it's a diet.
If somebody's kind of sayinglike, this is.
What you should eat in this way,then it's, you know, that's
(22:23):
gonna be a diet.
So if you're, when you do thatthen you're, you're, it doesn't
matter if you're hungry, ifyou're full, if you've burned
through all your points, or ifyou have a ton left over then
you know you're supposed todisregard what your body's
telling you and follow the plan.
Because if you don't loseweight.
(22:46):
When you follow someone else'splan, a lot of times it gets
thrown back on you for not doingit right.
The problem's not the plan.
The problem is you, theindividual who didn't do it
right, and this is one of themany, many problems with the
diet industry, it's designed tobe impossible.
I mean.
(23:07):
Numbers are somewhere about like95% or so of diets don't work.
And by work means if some, if,if a diet worked, people would
just follow it and ride off intothe sunset, and that would be
the end of that.
But they don't, it's like, didit work?
I need to start back again onthe same one or need to try
another one, kind of followingthis diet cycle.
(23:29):
There's a predictable pattern toit.
And it can be exciting at first.
Ooh, this is gonna be differentthis time.
And then it's like.
Something happens and ooh, I gotthrown off.
And then it goes into the like,oh shoot.
Can't do it.
And then everything off.
'cause you know, anticipating,eventually you're anticipating
that restriction again of likethe sugar, the, all these bad
(23:53):
foods, they're gonna be goingaway.
So I gotta get'em in now becauseI'm gonna be starting again
next.
So that.
A lot of times with people withPCOS, they're kind of been on
the diet cycle for a long time.
So, yeah.
Again, I lost, I lost thequestion, but, but I don't start
with just like specific foods.
But again,'cause that's gonna,especially people are doing a
(24:15):
lot of diet, are gonna, dietingare gonna latch on like, cool, I
got it.
Like, and that's what they want.
Like just tell, just tell mewhat to eat.
Just tell me what to do.
I'm really good at that.
And it's like, I know, butthat's why.
It's worth it to try somethingelse because it hasn't really
worked long term.
Kat (24:34):
Yeah, I agree with everything you said there.
It definitely pertains to PCOSand to everybody who may not
have PCOS It's the same thingwith all these different workout
plans out there.
Mm-hmm.
And these 21 day challenges, sixweek, eight week, it's designed
that way because it's moving thegoal poles further and further.
Where as I describe it to myclients is, being curious about
(24:57):
yourself
Liz (24:58):
yeah.
Yeah.
Sounds like I'll break it downto people.
'cause it, it's very, in thisspace, it's very easy to have
like black or white thinking andperfectionism thoughts.
But it's like, if we think aboutfor, for food, if we think about
meals even in a week.
Three meals a day, seven days aweek, 20 we've got 21 meal
(25:21):
opportunities in a week.
We could go, you know, break,keep going from there.
So it's like one meal, like,like one week.
Like none of it, like in thelong term it all comes out in
the wash.
That's where like getting trendsthat work for you.
Long term matter so much.
'cause people will.
I'll flip it on people sometimeswho will be like, I'm doing, I'm
(25:43):
bringing my salad with chickenon at lunch, which is like the
diet or lunch.
if you like it, you know, a lotof times, we'll, like, let's
throw a carbohydrate with thattoo.
I know you love your salad andthere's nothing wrong with it,
but sometimes it's like leavesyou, gets you hungry in a couple
hours.
But if we go, if we're doinglike eating perfectly.
For a whole month.
(26:04):
And then we have a, somethingthat would kind of be seen as
like a, an unhealthy meal.
It doesn't undo the whole month.
'cause it, if we flip it theother way, it's like if you had
pizza, like three meals a dayfor the entire month and then
you want one meal of like saladwith chicken on it, that doesn't
like make it go like, okay,we've just like undid all of
that for the, it doesn't, thatsounds ridiculous to people who
(26:25):
are like, you know, again, theseare really invested in wanting
to be healthy.
So it's like, how could thatpossibly make sense that one
night of pizza on undoes, onundo all the things in one
month, you know?
And yeah.
Kat (26:39):
It's so true.
If it matter, it's not thatevery effort doesn't matter, but
if your plan had to be someticulously executed.
No one would receive results.
And that's not part of living.
I mean, you would have to be ina controlled area.
And that's, that's not life.
So it's meant to learn how to beadaptable and, it's showing up
(27:01):
and doing the consistent things,the good basics.
Mm-hmm.
I'm like the boring basics, likeyes, that is where it's at.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Like there are some controllableand uncontrollable.
So we have to look at thecontrollable factors and, if
we're, strength training andmoving our body and doing the
mobility and having those goodsocial emotional connections,
more times than not, that isgoing to, be a lot better.
(27:24):
And it allows for, I don't wannasay that's a bad choice.
You're able to.
Hopefully not mentally sweatover.
Oh, I decided to have a donut onSaturdays mornings breakfast.
Mm-hmm.
Like, you know, it's just, it'sokay to do these things.
Mm-hmm.
But we need to have that goodbase.
(27:46):
And I love that example that yousaid, like, if you had pizza
three times a day for wholemonth and then one salad it,
that's not gonna, that's notgonna cancel all out.
Liz (27:55):
Yeah.
Yeah, and I mean, I really feellike making all foods fit is
really important for thatlong-term sustainability.
I also try to, and it's hard'cause you're really going
upstream as far as likemessaging out there, but trying
to be as like neutral aspossible with food and really
thinking about how all food canfit.
Protein's not like the best foodand like carbohydrates are the,
(28:19):
you know, trying to make yourlife miserable foods.
We need to have like one of thelike, there's, there's room for
everything and a lot of timeswhen, and this is intuitive
eating principle, but likeallowing yourself the
possibility.
It's always a possibility atfirst as someone who's not
considered it, but the idea ofeating like whatever you want,
(28:39):
whenever you want, like forsomeone who's done a lot of
dieting that just does not like,well then I would just only eat
cookies and ice cream and Iwouldn't eat.
Any salads, I would just gocrazy.
But when you kind of learn to,to notice how your body feels,
(29:01):
like how, beyond just hungerfullness, but how do you feel
And sometimes giving yourselfthat permission and have an have
a lot interesting reaction forpeople.
There's that push pull of.
This is going to be going away.
Like it doesn't matter if Idon't want to eat the cookies
and ice cream, but Mondaythey're gonna be gone.
(29:21):
I don't know when they're gonnacome back.
So I've gotta eat them now eventhough I'm full.
Like that's happens a lot.
But if we're just like, I canhave a cookie, I'm an adult, I
can go buy cookies or makecookies whenever I want to, like
any time.
A lot of times when you start tolike truly embrace that.
You can kind of check in and belike, what sounds, what would
(29:43):
feel good in my body?
And sometimes that is a cookie.
Sometimes it's like, yep, thatwas it.
That was perfect.
It was delicious.
It was awesome.
It might also be like, well, Ihaven't eaten anything else, but
so maybe if I have my lunch andthen have a cookie afterwards,
that might feel better than justa cookie on an empty stomach
(30:03):
might make you feel not great.
There's that potential too.
So, but trying to be reallyneutral about it.
It's like, you know, you mighteat, we just like really
embraced it.
Like you just eat whatever youwant to for, you might have
several days of like onlysweets, only french fries, only
all these things.
(30:23):
But usually it can be like,okay, actually, I liked that
salad I was making for lunch andI kind of miss having those
vegetables.
Kat (30:30):
Yeah.
To me, establishing trust withyourself, knowing that yes, you
are capable.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that is definitelythe number one thing that diet
culture takes away.
It takes away mm-hmm.
Your authority on your body thatmm-hmm.
Sense of I can control myself,when they start to articulate
and get more in touch and arecurious about themselves and
(30:52):
wake up a little bit more oflike, yeah, no, actually I
really do enjoy eatingvegetables or I really, mm-hmm.
Despise eating salad and chickenfor lunch.
I actually really enjoy and I'mlike, mm-hmm.
Good.
Or like, you know, it's likethose things that you find with
yourself and you, I'm like, foodis meant to, you are meant to
enjoy it.
You're meant to enjoy Yes.
Living on this earth and movingyour body and eating and
(31:15):
socializing.
Let's bring the it.
Let's bring that autonomy backto yourself.
So.
So you enjoy it.
I think it is just a huge, hugepiece and that's I love the way
you practice and helpindividuals articulate that for
themselves and switching themessaging and it's, it's simple,
(31:35):
but it's not easy.
It is, these are hard things andmm-hmm.
They are simple in understandinghard.
Mm-hmm.
To employ and yes, even myself,I have to catch myself mm-hmm.
I enjoy all foods this pastSaturday, we went out for coffee
and a treat, and this one bakerymakes the best chocolate chip
(31:57):
cookies.
And it was right aroundlunchtime and I'm like hungry.
It was like a celebratory thingand like mm-hmm.
Did it ruin my lunch?
No, I still ate a healthy lunch.
Mm-hmm.
I just inverted having thecookie mm-hmm.
Before lunch.
And it was really, my mind, myfirst thing was like, well, you
shouldn't really do that.
You should really, go home, likesave it for after your lunch.
And I'm like, no, no, no.
This is part of the socialemotional balance.
(32:19):
I'm having a great time.
I'm here with my husband, my, myboys.
We're enjoying and.
I know I'm going to eat morenutrient dense foods.
My body's not gonna say, well,you ate a cookie, so we're
canceling out, your lunch ofthis.
Right?
No, it's like it, your body onlyknows kind of the checks and
balances of what's going in.
It doesn't discern, or the orderor the ti.
(32:40):
It's like, we just want thenutrients, so.
Liz (32:44):
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that that'sreally important too, is like
that.
When people are following strictdiets, it, it takes them out of
those potential.
Those like social connections,whether it's your family at
dinner or going out to celebr,going out to celebrate or
feeling stress around.
(33:05):
I'm supposed to go out to dinnerwith for somebody's birthday,
but I don't know if there'sanything I can eat there.
Or there's a party I'm supposedto go to, but I don't know,
Maybe I, maybe I won't gobecause I'm afraid that I'm
gonna be tempted by all thethings there.
I mean, we know for sure, youknow, there is research that's
like having, those socialconnections really, really
(33:25):
matter.
And so if you feel like youcan't, and part of being human
is, is connecting over, overfood.
So if you're taking yourself outof that, it's not without,
potential risk.
So it's just something peopledon't always consider.
'cause it feels like the most,the most emphasis is on, like
you eat perfectly, exercise asmuch as possible, then that's
(33:50):
the best thing you can do foryour health.
It doesn't matter if it impactssleep or like you're not
interacting with people oryou're making five meals, or
you're all really stressedabout.
Making the food as the, withoutbeing, like, there's been a lot
of talk and research about ultraprocessed foods, and it's like
not, just we're already havingpeople so squeezed for time, and
(34:11):
then it's like, now you'resupposed to be like getting,
everything without, it's notprepackaged and it's just, it's
just, it's a lot
Kat (34:21):
Yeah.
For people trying to do Oh,yeah.
It can feel so overwhelming.
I wish it was getting bettersometimes.
And I feel like it gets worseand it gets even more
overwhelming and, you know, butit, this is why it's so
important and that's why I amlike, I love what you do and,
and how you work with clientsand returning that humanistic
side to it and thatself-compassion and you know, to
(34:43):
your point, life is really busyand there are certain times
where we do need to have ultraprocessed foods in our diet Yes.
And processed foods.
Mm-hmm.
And I always say, I'm like aprocessed food, is any processed
from the time it is from, itslike original aspect to the
time.
Mm-hmm.
It gets to your plate and it'swhat creates.
Something more process is themore steps it gets there.
(35:06):
Mm-hmm.
So you can, pluck a carrot fromthe ground.
That's one process.
Wash it as another process.
Mm-hmm.
Peel it as another process.
Slices it as another process.
And yeah, you can make theargument, well that's gonna be
nutrient, more nutrient densethen.
I think if canned carrots, well,if you don't have the ability to
grow your own carrots.
But you have the ability to buycanned carrots.
(35:26):
Well, you know what, it's almostnegligible.
And they've, they've done somany studies on, frozen versus
canned versus mm-hmm.
Like all of different stuff.
And at the end of the day, I'drather see clients getting, you
know mm-hmm.
The foods that they can, thatare affordable and, working with
individuals like yourself whounderstand the complexity
(35:47):
sometimes of.
Just being a human and bringingthat
back
to them because it's,
it's
Liz (35:53):
huge.
Life is hard now.
It's interesting with Right,exactly.
The ultra process stuff, I thinkit's in, it's interesting.
I think it all falls apart whenit's like, especially if people
are interested in health andthen it's like, I mean, a, a
protein shakes are super ultraprocess.
But it's like, also, it's one ofthese like often promoted
things.
Yes.
To
get in.
It's like how, like, what isthis food that, I mean we, you
(36:16):
know, there's, there's a label,but it's like, it just foods get
health halos too, where it'slike, that's different.
That's acceptable.
And that's why the term, I knowwe're off a little tangent about
ultra process food, but it's,but it's out there and it's
something people are aware of,especially people who are trying
to be healthy and it's, it's onpeople's radar, but it's like.
Thinking about that term, it'snot really telling you the whole
(36:38):
story for it, it's just notgetting all out.
It doesn't, yeah.
Kat (36:42):
I know it's a tangent, but it is a good one to have
because.
You know, individuals who arepromoting a very healthy, clean,
Right.
Lifestyle nutrient dense.
Oftentimes it is promoting somesort of powder smoothie, mm-hmm.
Et cetera, that is ultraprocessed.
Even though it's this green andpurple juice.
(37:04):
It is so powdered down and sofar removed from the substance
that mm-hmm it is better foryou.
Just to have a handful ofcarrots or yeah.
Even have, I'm gonna say, I'mgonna throw it out there.
Even have a Big Mac.
I mean, like, there, like, whenthere's even, you know,
research, it shows it certain,ultra process protein shakes are
not as healthy for you.
(37:25):
And it's not just because of allthe sugars in there, but it's so
far stripped down that it's notmm-hmm.
Providing you with the resourcesthat it, it says it is.
But that is definitely a wholeother topic.
I mean, it is, it is one that Ikind of get.
Fired up about where I, I feeland what I tell my clients.
Like sometimes the best thing todo is not get sucked into the
(37:47):
void of mm-hmm.
All the information out there.
It is very easy to scroll andsee the little 32nd bits, but
really research and, work withprofessionals that are
well-informed evidence, basedscience backed mm-hmm.
Information that has been outthere, that has been proven
(38:08):
multiple times over and overand, not selling a product other
than, helping create thatcuriosity and discover in a
better relationship withyourself and mm-hmm.
That is, that's huge to me.
So, yeah.
Right.
Yeah, where can everybody findyou?
And it will be posted in theshow notes, so you can use it
(38:30):
now, but it, it's, it'll be inthe show notes.
Liz (38:34):
My website is probably best.
I don't really kind of keep upwith social media these days.
So yeah, my website there's a,you can contact me through that.
Yeah, and you'll give my emailphone number.
People can call that way too,but Yeah.
Not.
Currently really on socialmedia.
So yeah, kind of bo a little bitboring, but that's that's it.
(38:54):
But it's for providers too.
Like if you find a provider thatyou do like of any kind, it's
helpful to find.
I mean this might be make becommon sense, but you can always
ask for recommendations.
You don't have to stick with thedoctor just'cause you always
have.
It's a pain I know to switch,but sometimes you might find
like, you know, if you.
So a therapist, they might knowpeople too.
(39:17):
So if you and it, it is becausePCOS does cross specialties, it
can be tricky, but if you findlike somebody that you're
working with, then ch chancesare they might be able to find
somebody else.
I feel like that's what I, I doa lot of times too when I work
with people, it's like, how canI connect the dots with them
too?
Get other providers that thatcan work better with them.
Kat (39:38):
Which is huge.
as we've already stated, I mean,women's health is so under.
Under, I undervalued.
I do the same.
I help try and connect the dotsfor my clients because it is
extremely frustrating to bemisunderstood, not heard or seen
or taken seriously with thingsthat are going on.
Mm-hmm.
(39:58):
So, yeah.
This is awesome.
Like I said, I will have Liz'sinformation in the show notes.
Definitely reach out to her ifyou have questions about this
episode, message the podcast,and I will pass'em on to Liz.
Thank you so much for coming on,Liz.
You're welcome.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you for tuning in toMilesFromHerView, powered by
(40:18):
KatFit Strength.
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Hit follow or subscribe to stayupdated on the new episodes, and
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(40:41):
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Remember, fitness isn't aboutperfection.
It's about showing up foryourself and finding strength in
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, the podcast
powered by KatFit Strength,where busy women like you find
practical solutions to fuel yourfitness journey with
authenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
and an ultra marathon runner anda strength trainer in her
forties with nearly two decadesof experience.
(00:21):
I'm here to help you cut throughthe noise of fads, hacks, and
quick fixes.
This is a space where wecelebrate womanhood and
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
Whether you're lacing up yourrunning shoes to go out for a
run, driving your kids topractice or squeezing in a
(00:42):
moment for yourself, I'm righthere in the trenches with you.
Let's dive in.
Liz Schonthal is a registereddietician with over 10 years of
experience specializing in PCOS,prenatal perinatal nutrition,
and disordered eating.
As the founder of your nutritionpartner LLC, Liz has spent the f
(01:06):
the past five years helpingclients cultivate healthier
relationships with food usingintuitive eating principles.
She combines her extensivenutrition knowledge with
compassionate client-centeredapproach to foster lasting
change.
Liz earned her master's degreein nutrition from the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro,and has built a strong
(01:27):
foundation in evidence-basedpractices throughout her career.
Her passion for supportingindividuals through their unique
nutritional journeys drives hercommitment to creating a safe
and non nonjudgmentalenvironment for her clients.
Liz enjoys spending our timewith her husband and 8-year-old
daughter outside of our practicein Westchester.
Welcome.
(01:47):
I'm so excited to have you heretoday.
How are you?
Liz (01:51):
I'm good.
Thanks Kat.
I'm happy to be here today.
Kat (01:54):
We have, a lot to talk about and, I love.
I love your evidence-basedpractice and providing that
compassion, especiallysurrounding nutrition and
women's health and nutrition.
Today we're gonna be primarilytalking about PCOS and what it
is, what it is not, to providethat knowledge and education
(02:17):
backed understanding from anexpert.
So.
Let's just dive in.
Let's start with what is PCOS?
Liz (02:26):
So, PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome.
It is.
It can sometimes be like thisumbrella condition.
So not everybody with PCOS hasthe same symptoms.
One of the reasons why it can beconfusing.
So normally you're gonna have,there's some potential criteria.
(02:46):
You need to have several ofthese in order to get diagnosed.
Like a lot of this, there'sgonna be some, some nuance with
it.
And I've had a lot of clients.
Who had one doctor say that theythink they don't have it.
Other ones think they do.
So a lot of times, you know,there is criteria, but again,
people get, get missed mixedmessages.
Usually it's gonna be, notovulating or having regular
(03:09):
cycles.
I think it's about eight, eightor less a year would be kind of
official count.
It's going to be having somemarkers of higher androgens like
testosterone.
This can also manifest in, insigns and symptoms on your body,
so that might be.
(03:30):
Acne hair growth on like yourface or chest thinning hair on
your head.
Also there could be with anultrasound to see what's
actually going on on the ovary.
So it's, again, it's kind of amisnomer.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome,when really it's follicles is
the actual actually what's goingon on the ovary.
(03:52):
And you'd kind of would, itwould look like a string of
pearls.
So a bunch of immature folliclesthat aren't maturing enough to
develop to ovulate.
And you can sometimes see thaton, on the ovary, when you're
looking at the ultrasound you'realso going to see sometimes some
meta it can manifest with somemetabolic symptoms.
So that being like elevated ininsulin blood sugar, sometimes
(04:18):
that could also mean bloodpressure, cholesterol.
These things can kind of also bepresent.
That's not usually enough todiagnose on its own, but it's
something that.
People would be on the lookoutfor too.
Kat (04:32):
Does PCOS, is it one of those things where you're born
with it or can it develop laterin life?
Liz (04:41):
Like so many conditions that happen in female born
populations, it is underresearched underfunded so kind
of, this is sort of like thebest.
We got with more room to learnmore.
So kind of what's bestunderstood is that it's a
condition that you are bornwith.
(05:01):
That, or that could be kind ofturned on some kind of something
happens environmentally orwhatever that could cause it to
like show up.
But it can run in families.
A lot of times that when you goback a generation or two, then
no, nobody knows what this is.
It's was not really diagnosed.
It didn't mean it didn't exist.
(05:22):
It's been around forever.
But it just wasn't diagnosed.
It didn't, like, it didn't, itwasn't showing up Even now.
It shows up in about ballparkeight to 12.
14% of the female bornpopulation potentially have
PCOS, but it's still a, a lot ofpeople don't even know what it
(05:43):
is.
But it's relatively common.
So yes, it can believe to besomething that people are born
with, but symptoms wouldn't showup till puberty until cycles are
gonna start.
Is kind of how it, it goes for alot of people.
Kat (06:01):
that makes sense.
And the one thing I wannahighlight there is.
A lot of funding for females areso it's underfunded we're
learning still so much aboutwomen's health because it has
historically been underfundedand historically women have not
been included in trials orstudies.
Looking in the frame ofnutrition, I, I, I tend to hear
(06:21):
clients like, oh, I've been toldI need to avoid all carbs.
I need to avoid all this.
I need to only intermittentfast.
I need to do an insert whateverhere.
I'm gonna issue this with adisclaimer.
Everything on this podcast ishere to educate and inform, and
if you, if something resonateswith you, have a conversation
with Liz and her informationwill be at the end and in the
show notes or contact your owndoctor or speak with your own
(06:46):
registered dietician.
Is there validity to avoidingcertain foods or is there a
certain way?
And again, this isgeneralization because as you
have already pointed out, it isunique to each individual.
And, and even in general, I'llsay with strength training and
nutrition, it is unique to eachindividual.
(07:06):
So that's nothing new with justPCOS, but are there certain
things that you see
Liz (07:13):
So at the, the root of PCOS, what's kind of driving a
lot of symptoms that people areexperiencing.
Is, is believed to be that thoseelevated androgens, so that
would be like the elevated malehormones or and or insulin
resistance.
So again, there's ballpark parknumbers of, of how much people
(07:33):
think ins they have insulinresistance as part of this.
So like in theory kind of trfrom a nutrition standpoint,
it's like how can we.
Treat the insulin resistance andthese can kind of play off of
each other.
Like if we could insulinresistance improved, then we can
kind of drive down some of thosehormones that might be kind of
(07:54):
showing up in people.
However.
The, like, everyone's situationis different and depending on
where someone's coming from.
So like in a nutritionappointment, no matter who it
is, just gathering informationbefore I'm making re
recommendations because when I'mlooking for, for everyone I, I
talk to, even if, when I talk tothem on the phone, they're like,
(08:15):
my problem is I'm eating toomuch.
I'm binging.
I'm starting from is are youeating enough that that is
often, I mean, sometimes that'swhere people are, are wondering,
but a lot of times, especiallywith PCOS, that's not on the
radar, but that's where I startfrom.
Are we eating enough?
Are we eating regularly?
Are we having a good amount ofvariety?
(08:36):
So it's really basic.
Before even getting intospecific types of food,
combinations of food,carbohydrates, all the things,
it's like, are we eating enough?
And then when we get into theregularity, it's like timing,
part of the timing of the dayand, and getting into variety.
And I think this is reallyimportant because where people,
(08:57):
unfortunately, when there is alack of research, then there
becomes a vacuum of informationout in the wild being.
Social media and the internet.
So we, so then there, there isinformation out there.
People start Googling or goingTikTok.
There's there, there's peoplewho are gonna say, I have the
answers for you.
(09:17):
You just do this, this workedfor me, so you should do this
too.
Which is kind of a red flagunfortunately.
It's like, you know, and, andmaybe it did work for that
person, but it doesn't mean it'slike gonna work for every other
individual.
So I don't even remember whatyour question was.
You, you answered it.
(09:38):
Yeah.
It was like more about like thewhole, strict low car, no car
keto that like what is all that,And it is, you know, you hit the
nail of the head.
I mean, when you, there becomesthat vacuum of information
because people want a solution.
And it's not that there aren't,but I find it's, you have to.
Understand you, and also to yourearlier point is, are you eating
(10:03):
enough?
Sometimes we do feel like we'reeating enough and maybe we are,
but it's stacked on the eveningand not in the morning.
Mm-hmm.
And that leads to thatuncontrollable urge to eat
everything.
Yes.
And things that maybe you knewyou just didn't want to eat, but
because you were so hungry, youate.
(10:24):
what works for you and having anexpert that understands that
what works for one person oreven themselves is not the one
size fits all that will work forevery person because that it
doesn't work like that at all,so, mm-hmm.
That's why I know I cringe, inthe fitness side of it when I
see do this one workout is theabsolutism for stopping this.
(10:48):
Please run from that.
That is a huge red flag becausethere is no one specific workout
that is going to do it all.
'cause it just, it just doesn'twork like that.
Yep.
I could speak more to like thecarbohydrates too.
Yeah.
Because I think that was youractual question.
Or people get told with PCOS golow carb or go keto.
(11:09):
And a lot of times that iscoming from even medical
professionals, from doctors.
I think the thing to keep inmind is.
Again, there's, there's thingsaren't black and white and there
is some nuance to this.
So sometimes the people, peoplewill often say, well, this
really worked for me.
Like I, whenever I've done lowcarb, it's been the only thing
(11:31):
that's worked for me.
And so when I kind of play thatback to people, it's like, well,
okay, so what do you mean byworked?
Because, okay, so that mightmean weight loss symptoms
improved.
It might've helped withfertility.
It might've like actually doneall of the things, address the
problems.
(11:52):
But it's like, well then I willask then why did you stop doing
it?
And that's the key, is thatsustainable long-term like
nuance is so much.
More important than somethingthat's going to be short term,
(12:13):
but ultimately unsustainable.
And that's what can happen withlow carb diets.
I feel like it would be veryrare to have someone who can
follow a low carb or keto dietforever without disordered
eating like, and that that couldbe that.
'cause for most people, I thinkthe normal response to that is
(12:36):
binging.
Like.
Is is when you are, you know,either holidays, birthdays,
vacation or, or sometimes it'sjust like a stressful day.
I'm just gonna have one bite andone bite of something.
With carbohydrates.
Can feel like you've ruined yourdiet and can be like, well, I'm
(12:59):
going to.
Eat all of the sugar, then getit outta the house and then
start over Monday, which kind ofpromotes that diet, cycling that
back and forth and back andforth, which even if you have
lost weight following this lowcarb diet, when you lose weight,
you don't just lose fat, youlose a lot of muscle.
And when you regain weight, alot of times you regain it as
(13:22):
fat.
So it ends up working againstpeople.
With their long-term goals.
And that can really be reallyfrustrating for people.
So if we take a slower approach,we can kind of avoid some of
those problems that can happenwith that back and forth of diet
cycling.
Kat (13:38):
Yeah.
And I like what you said thereit is.
It's, you know, why did you stopif it worked before, why did you
stop?
And I think that is a question,we don't often think about.
You know, if it did work, itshould be sustainable.
it should, you know, and Ialways press upon like the, the
whole goal of building strengthor changing that body
(14:00):
composition isn't to constantlybe in the state of change, but
to get us to a point where weare maintaining that we can
maintain our routine.
There's gonna be someflexibility because we need
flexibility in life.
I talk with my clients a lotabout is we need to be able to.
Not never miss a workout, but beable to adapt our workouts and
(14:23):
our plans with life withoutfeeling this.
Now I have to get back on thewagon again.
Now I have to get back on thethe track again.
It's no on or off.
It's let's adapt because ifwe're sustaining this for a
lifetime, we need to work withourselves.
And I like how.
Your ideologies around this, onhow decoding it for the
(14:46):
individual of breaking that dietcycle.
Something that I think we fallinto, whether we are aware or
unaware, or we maybe were awareat one point and then we just
routinely do it because we'vebecome unaware of, okay, I can
white knuckle it for a littlebit here and then holidays, pop
(15:07):
up, vacations, and then it's.
This guilt and shame and now Ihave to white knuckle it again
to get back to where I wanted togo.
And another point you said, andI think this is something that
isn't talked about enough, iswhen you lose weight, it does
not discern against muscle orfact.
(15:29):
It is just an overall weight,weight loss.
And it is very critical.
And yes, it is critical forwomen.
After the age of 30 and we losethree to 8% of muscle mass.
And then when we get into ourforties and we're in that
perimenopause flex, I'm gonnacall it to menopause, our muscle
(15:49):
mass loss is accelerated and ifyou are under muscle, but yeah,
you might be at a healthy BMI ora healthy weight.
That isn't going to be healthyfor you.
You become frail and that's notgood.
Or if someone is in that weightloss area and they lose weight,
(16:10):
but they're losing more muscle,they're not having that
component of strength trainingon the other side.
It.
It could be really bad, youknow, for them, they could be
setting themselves upinadvertently still for some
metabolic syndrome despite,creating some change.
So, I don't know if you also seethat, but like, that's one thing
I'm like, guys, let's, we don't,you don't have to do it all at
(16:32):
the same time.
Mm-hmm.
But start to work in where itfeels good for you.
Liz (16:37):
Right.
I feel like I talk a lot withpeople about.
What does a lot of times ifwe're, we're trying to work on
workout, exercise, or nutrition,that they're trying to be
healthy.
And so if we think about whatdoes health mean?
Like a lot of times,unfortunately, it's very much
overlapped with, with weight.
It's like, you know, if you loseweight by any means necessary,
(17:00):
that's good and that's healthy.
But it's so much more complexthan that.
There's other components ofhealth besides.
Calories in, calories out orexercise.
And, stress.
Everybody's busy, especiallylike in that frame of life,
working kids, family,everything.
People are stressed.
(17:21):
We need to think about what canwe do that feels sustainable and
working with your limited timeand family and.
Also getting enough sleepbecause these are things that
drive blood sugar.
It's like if we're not gettingenough sleep, if we're feeling
really stressed, these thingsare gonna work against you
metabolically too.
So I kind of feel like when Iwork with people, it's also
(17:43):
talking about how do we work onthose obstacles to life, like
and some of those might even belike how important it is if you
are the primary cook.
To try to make meals that workfor your whole family too.
Instead of doing, if you gosuper low carb keto, a lot of
times that means you're makingsomething different for you and
then the kids, and then the kidsdon't like all the things, so
(18:04):
you gotta do different thingsfor different kids and it's
absolutely exhausting.
So it's like, where can we, forthe most part, make life easier
for you?
Also as a, I'm just gonna say amom, that might not be everybody
listening, but a lot of times itis.
It's like, how can we.
Take some of some things offyour plate and that might not
be, you know, so there's valuefor your health in not stressing
(18:29):
yourself out by doing somethingthat's taking up all so much of
your time too.
Kat (18:34):
I love what you all that, what that you said there I think
sleep.
Is not talked about enough as tohow valuable it is for hormones,
blood sugar regulation, stressmitigation, lowering the
cortisol, but we have that sameprinciple of looking at the
whole client looking at, okay,everybody has 24 hours in a day,
(18:56):
but everybody's 24 hours istotally different.
But what can we do to mitigatethe stress and allow you to have
that change knowing you are notthe only person you're caring
for?
And that is huge.
See a change that doesn't haveto be restrictive or preventing
yourself from living and fullyenjoying who you are, who you
(19:20):
wanna be, and what you wanna beinvolved with.
So, yes, definitely.
Yeah.
PCOS there's still so much morethat we need to understand with
it.
Liz (19:31):
Not everybody with PCOS is in a larger body, but a lot of
times they are, especially ifthey're running into challenges
with healthcare, with medicalproviders or, or why they're
prob not, again, not everybody,but if they're seeking help with
nutrition, a lot of times thatis the case.
So.
Given that a lot of times therepeople have had challenging
(19:53):
experiences in that space and abig one being that they're not
believed.
'cause I feel like, especiallywith PCOS, when you have these
hormones that can promote weightgain, so insulin levels are
often high with people withPCOS.
So that can, that's a storagehormone.
So when you do eat that kind ofcan make your body hold on to
(20:14):
more weight.
And like the testosterone cankind of play off of that as
well.
So there are, there are peopleout there who are eating very
restrictive diets and overexercising who are in larger
bodies and that a lot of timesthat is just not understood or
believed and that's very, veryfrustrating.
(20:36):
So anyway.
Whereas a kind of a goodstarting off point, like if
somebody's kind of eating,regularly eating, then, then
it's, then I think thinkingabout that's where the balancing
the carbohydrates along withprotein, which is not gonna
affect blood sugar as much, andfoods with higher fiber.
(20:56):
So those could be carbohydratesthat are higher fiber.
That's where getting your fruitsand vegetables in can be
important, but, but ifsomebody's like not eating.
Or has been like on like onediet after another.
I'm not gonna start and say likeprotein and and vegetables
because that just is going toimmediately turn into another
diet.
(21:17):
And that's kind of not thepoint.
So that's where it's like,again, I'm just tons of, tons of
nuance, but, but there can be,it's like, okay, like it might
even be a matter of how could weshift things around on your
plate.
A big thing I talk to talk aboutwith people I.
Is, and this is where intuitiveeating, which I mentioned in my
(21:39):
bio, it comes into play.
But learning to feel, learningto see, to read your own cues
about what your body's tellingyou.
Now, the term intuitive eatingis, is more than just eating
when you're hungry, stuffingwhen you're full.
There's a lot more to it thanthat.
But a lot of people aredisconnected from hunger cues
and fullness cues.
(22:00):
Or, and that is, is really kindof a result of dieting because
when you're dieting, even thoughwe don't, dieting is not a
popular word anymore.
We know we do like, it'swellness culture.
It's like cleanses.
It's whatevers.
It's, but let's just, it's gonnacall it what it is.
It's, it's a diet.
If somebody's kind of sayinglike, this is.
What you should eat in this way,then it's, you know, that's
(22:23):
gonna be a diet.
So if you're, when you do thatthen you're, you're, it doesn't
matter if you're hungry, ifyou're full, if you've burned
through all your points, or ifyou have a ton left over then
you know you're supposed todisregard what your body's
telling you and follow the plan.
Because if you don't loseweight.
(22:46):
When you follow someone else'splan, a lot of times it gets
thrown back on you for not doingit right.
The problem's not the plan.
The problem is you, theindividual who didn't do it
right, and this is one of themany, many problems with the
diet industry, it's designed tobe impossible.
I mean.
(23:07):
Numbers are somewhere about like95% or so of diets don't work.
And by work means if some, if,if a diet worked, people would
just follow it and ride off intothe sunset, and that would be
the end of that.
But they don't, it's like, didit work?
I need to start back again onthe same one or need to try
another one, kind of followingthis diet cycle.
(23:29):
There's a predictable pattern toit.
And it can be exciting at first.
Ooh, this is gonna be differentthis time.
And then it's like.
Something happens and ooh, I gotthrown off.
And then it goes into the like,oh shoot.
Can't do it.
And then everything off.
'cause you know, anticipating,eventually you're anticipating
that restriction again of likethe sugar, the, all these bad
(23:53):
foods, they're gonna be goingaway.
So I gotta get'em in now becauseI'm gonna be starting again
next.
So that.
A lot of times with people withPCOS, they're kind of been on
the diet cycle for a long time.
So, yeah.
Again, I lost, I lost thequestion, but, but I don't start
with just like specific foods.
But again,'cause that's gonna,especially people are doing a
(24:15):
lot of diet, are gonna, dietingare gonna latch on like, cool, I
got it.
Like, and that's what they want.
Like just tell, just tell mewhat to eat.
Just tell me what to do.
I'm really good at that.
And it's like, I know, butthat's why.
It's worth it to try somethingelse because it hasn't really
worked long term.
Kat (24:34):
Yeah, I agree with everything you said there.
It definitely pertains to PCOSand to everybody who may not
have PCOS It's the same thingwith all these different workout
plans out there.
Mm-hmm.
And these 21 day challenges, sixweek, eight week, it's designed
that way because it's moving thegoal poles further and further.
Where as I describe it to myclients is, being curious about
(24:57):
yourself
Liz (24:58):
yeah.
Yeah.
Sounds like I'll break it downto people.
'cause it, it's very, in thisspace, it's very easy to have
like black or white thinking andperfectionism thoughts.
But it's like, if we think aboutfor, for food, if we think about
meals even in a week.
Three meals a day, seven days aweek, 20 we've got 21 meal
(25:21):
opportunities in a week.
We could go, you know, break,keep going from there.
So it's like one meal, like,like one week.
Like none of it, like in thelong term it all comes out in
the wash.
That's where like getting trendsthat work for you.
Long term matter so much.
'cause people will.
I'll flip it on people sometimeswho will be like, I'm doing, I'm
(25:43):
bringing my salad with chickenon at lunch, which is like the
diet or lunch.
if you like it, you know, a lotof times, we'll, like, let's
throw a carbohydrate with thattoo.
I know you love your salad andthere's nothing wrong with it,
but sometimes it's like leavesyou, gets you hungry in a couple
hours.
But if we go, if we're doinglike eating perfectly.
For a whole month.
(26:04):
And then we have a, somethingthat would kind of be seen as
like a, an unhealthy meal.
It doesn't undo the whole month.
'cause it, if we flip it theother way, it's like if you had
pizza, like three meals a dayfor the entire month and then
you want one meal of like saladwith chicken on it, that doesn't
like make it go like, okay,we've just like undid all of
that for the, it doesn't, thatsounds ridiculous to people who
(26:25):
are like, you know, again, theseare really invested in wanting
to be healthy.
So it's like, how could thatpossibly make sense that one
night of pizza on undoes, onundo all the things in one
month, you know?
And yeah.
Kat (26:39):
It's so true.
If it matter, it's not thatevery effort doesn't matter, but
if your plan had to be someticulously executed.
No one would receive results.
And that's not part of living.
I mean, you would have to be ina controlled area.
And that's, that's not life.
So it's meant to learn how to beadaptable and, it's showing up
(27:01):
and doing the consistent things,the good basics.
Mm-hmm.
I'm like the boring basics, likeyes, that is where it's at.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Like there are some controllableand uncontrollable.
So we have to look at thecontrollable factors and, if
we're, strength training andmoving our body and doing the
mobility and having those goodsocial emotional connections,
more times than not, that isgoing to, be a lot better.
(27:24):
And it allows for, I don't wannasay that's a bad choice.
You're able to.
Hopefully not mentally sweatover.
Oh, I decided to have a donut onSaturdays mornings breakfast.
Mm-hmm.
Like, you know, it's just, it'sokay to do these things.
Mm-hmm.
But we need to have that goodbase.
(27:46):
And I love that example that yousaid, like, if you had pizza
three times a day for wholemonth and then one salad it,
that's not gonna, that's notgonna cancel all out.
Liz (27:55):
Yeah.
Yeah, and I mean, I really feellike making all foods fit is
really important for thatlong-term sustainability.
I also try to, and it's hard'cause you're really going
upstream as far as likemessaging out there, but trying
to be as like neutral aspossible with food and really
thinking about how all food canfit.
Protein's not like the best foodand like carbohydrates are the,
(28:19):
you know, trying to make yourlife miserable foods.
We need to have like one of thelike, there's, there's room for
everything and a lot of timeswhen, and this is intuitive
eating principle, but likeallowing yourself the
possibility.
It's always a possibility atfirst as someone who's not
considered it, but the idea ofeating like whatever you want,
(28:39):
whenever you want, like forsomeone who's done a lot of
dieting that just does not like,well then I would just only eat
cookies and ice cream and Iwouldn't eat.
Any salads, I would just gocrazy.
But when you kind of learn to,to notice how your body feels,
(29:01):
like how, beyond just hungerfullness, but how do you feel
And sometimes giving yourselfthat permission and have an have
a lot interesting reaction forpeople.
There's that push pull of.
This is going to be going away.
Like it doesn't matter if Idon't want to eat the cookies
and ice cream, but Mondaythey're gonna be gone.
(29:21):
I don't know when they're gonnacome back.
So I've gotta eat them now eventhough I'm full.
Like that's happens a lot.
But if we're just like, I canhave a cookie, I'm an adult, I
can go buy cookies or makecookies whenever I want to, like
any time.
A lot of times when you start tolike truly embrace that.
You can kind of check in and belike, what sounds, what would
(29:43):
feel good in my body?
And sometimes that is a cookie.
Sometimes it's like, yep, thatwas it.
That was perfect.
It was delicious.
It was awesome.
It might also be like, well, Ihaven't eaten anything else, but
so maybe if I have my lunch andthen have a cookie afterwards,
that might feel better than justa cookie on an empty stomach
(30:03):
might make you feel not great.
There's that potential too.
So, but trying to be reallyneutral about it.
It's like, you know, you mighteat, we just like really
embraced it.
Like you just eat whatever youwant to for, you might have
several days of like onlysweets, only french fries, only
all these things.
(30:23):
But usually it can be like,okay, actually, I liked that
salad I was making for lunch andI kind of miss having those
vegetables.
Kat (30:30):
Yeah.
To me, establishing trust withyourself, knowing that yes, you
are capable.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that is definitelythe number one thing that diet
culture takes away.
It takes away mm-hmm.
Your authority on your body thatmm-hmm.
Sense of I can control myself,when they start to articulate
and get more in touch and arecurious about themselves and
(30:52):
wake up a little bit more oflike, yeah, no, actually I
really do enjoy eatingvegetables or I really, mm-hmm.
Despise eating salad and chickenfor lunch.
I actually really enjoy and I'mlike, mm-hmm.
Good.
Or like, you know, it's likethose things that you find with
yourself and you, I'm like, foodis meant to, you are meant to
enjoy it.
You're meant to enjoy Yes.
Living on this earth and movingyour body and eating and
(31:15):
socializing.
Let's bring the it.
Let's bring that autonomy backto yourself.
So.
So you enjoy it.
I think it is just a huge, hugepiece and that's I love the way
you practice and helpindividuals articulate that for
themselves and switching themessaging and it's, it's simple,
(31:35):
but it's not easy.
It is, these are hard things andmm-hmm.
They are simple in understandinghard.
Mm-hmm.
To employ and yes, even myself,I have to catch myself mm-hmm.
I enjoy all foods this pastSaturday, we went out for coffee
and a treat, and this one bakerymakes the best chocolate chip
(31:57):
cookies.
And it was right aroundlunchtime and I'm like hungry.
It was like a celebratory thingand like mm-hmm.
Did it ruin my lunch?
No, I still ate a healthy lunch.
Mm-hmm.
I just inverted having thecookie mm-hmm.
Before lunch.
And it was really, my mind, myfirst thing was like, well, you
shouldn't really do that.
You should really, go home, likesave it for after your lunch.
And I'm like, no, no, no.
This is part of the socialemotional balance.
(32:19):
I'm having a great time.
I'm here with my husband, my, myboys.
We're enjoying and.
I know I'm going to eat morenutrient dense foods.
My body's not gonna say, well,you ate a cookie, so we're
canceling out, your lunch ofthis.
Right?
No, it's like it, your body onlyknows kind of the checks and
balances of what's going in.
It doesn't discern, or the orderor the ti.
(32:40):
It's like, we just want thenutrients, so.
Liz (32:44):
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that that'sreally important too, is like
that.
When people are following strictdiets, it, it takes them out of
those potential.
Those like social connections,whether it's your family at
dinner or going out to celebr,going out to celebrate or
feeling stress around.
(33:05):
I'm supposed to go out to dinnerwith for somebody's birthday,
but I don't know if there'sanything I can eat there.
Or there's a party I'm supposedto go to, but I don't know,
Maybe I, maybe I won't gobecause I'm afraid that I'm
gonna be tempted by all thethings there.
I mean, we know for sure, youknow, there is research that's
like having, those socialconnections really, really
(33:25):
matter.
And so if you feel like youcan't, and part of being human
is, is connecting over, overfood.
So if you're taking yourself outof that, it's not without,
potential risk.
So it's just something peopledon't always consider.
'cause it feels like the most,the most emphasis is on, like
you eat perfectly, exercise asmuch as possible, then that's
(33:50):
the best thing you can do foryour health.
It doesn't matter if it impactssleep or like you're not
interacting with people oryou're making five meals, or
you're all really stressedabout.
Making the food as the, withoutbeing, like, there's been a lot
of talk and research about ultraprocessed foods, and it's like
not, just we're already havingpeople so squeezed for time, and
(34:11):
then it's like, now you'resupposed to be like getting,
everything without, it's notprepackaged and it's just, it's
just, it's a lot
Kat (34:21):
Yeah.
For people trying to do Oh,yeah.
It can feel so overwhelming.
I wish it was getting bettersometimes.
And I feel like it gets worseand it gets even more
overwhelming and, you know, butit, this is why it's so
important and that's why I amlike, I love what you do and,
and how you work with clientsand returning that humanistic
side to it and thatself-compassion and you know, to
(34:43):
your point, life is really busyand there are certain times
where we do need to have ultraprocessed foods in our diet Yes.
And processed foods.
Mm-hmm.
And I always say, I'm like aprocessed food, is any processed
from the time it is from, itslike original aspect to the
time.
Mm-hmm.
It gets to your plate and it'swhat creates.
Something more process is themore steps it gets there.
(35:06):
Mm-hmm.
So you can, pluck a carrot fromthe ground.
That's one process.
Wash it as another process.
Mm-hmm.
Peel it as another process.
Slices it as another process.
And yeah, you can make theargument, well that's gonna be
nutrient, more nutrient densethen.
I think if canned carrots, well,if you don't have the ability to
grow your own carrots.
But you have the ability to buycanned carrots.
(35:26):
Well, you know what, it's almostnegligible.
And they've, they've done somany studies on, frozen versus
canned versus mm-hmm.
Like all of different stuff.
And at the end of the day, I'drather see clients getting, you
know mm-hmm.
The foods that they can, thatare affordable and, working with
individuals like yourself whounderstand the complexity
(35:47):
sometimes of.
Just being a human and bringingthat
back
to them because it's,
it's
Liz (35:53):
huge.
Life is hard now.
It's interesting with Right,exactly.
The ultra process stuff, I thinkit's in, it's interesting.
I think it all falls apart whenit's like, especially if people
are interested in health andthen it's like, I mean, a, a
protein shakes are super ultraprocess.
But it's like, also, it's one ofthese like often promoted
things.
Yes.
To
get in.
It's like how, like, what isthis food that, I mean we, you
(36:16):
know, there's, there's a label,but it's like, it just foods get
health halos too, where it'slike, that's different.
That's acceptable.
And that's why the term, I knowwe're off a little tangent about
ultra process food, but it's,but it's out there and it's
something people are aware of,especially people who are trying
to be healthy and it's, it's onpeople's radar, but it's like.
Thinking about that term, it'snot really telling you the whole
(36:38):
story for it, it's just notgetting all out.
It doesn't, yeah.
Kat (36:42):
I know it's a tangent, but it is a good one to have
because.
You know, individuals who arepromoting a very healthy, clean,
Right.
Lifestyle nutrient dense.
Oftentimes it is promoting somesort of powder smoothie, mm-hmm.
Et cetera, that is ultraprocessed.
Even though it's this green andpurple juice.
(37:04):
It is so powdered down and sofar removed from the substance
that mm-hmm it is better foryou.
Just to have a handful ofcarrots or yeah.
Even have, I'm gonna say, I'mgonna throw it out there.
Even have a Big Mac.
I mean, like, there, like, whenthere's even, you know,
research, it shows it certain,ultra process protein shakes are
not as healthy for you.
(37:25):
And it's not just because of allthe sugars in there, but it's so
far stripped down that it's notmm-hmm.
Providing you with the resourcesthat it, it says it is.
But that is definitely a wholeother topic.
I mean, it is, it is one that Ikind of get.
Fired up about where I, I feeland what I tell my clients.
Like sometimes the best thing todo is not get sucked into the
(37:47):
void of mm-hmm.
All the information out there.
It is very easy to scroll andsee the little 32nd bits, but
really research and, work withprofessionals that are
well-informed evidence, basedscience backed mm-hmm.
Information that has been outthere, that has been proven
(38:08):
multiple times over and overand, not selling a product other
than, helping create thatcuriosity and discover in a
better relationship withyourself and mm-hmm.
That is, that's huge to me.
So, yeah.
Right.
Yeah, where can everybody findyou?
And it will be posted in theshow notes, so you can use it
(38:30):
now, but it, it's, it'll be inthe show notes.
Liz (38:34):
My website is probably best.
I don't really kind of keep upwith social media these days.
So yeah, my website there's a,you can contact me through that.
Yeah, and you'll give my emailphone number.
People can call that way too,but Yeah.
Not.
Currently really on socialmedia.
So yeah, kind of bo a little bitboring, but that's that's it.
(38:54):
But it's for providers too.
Like if you find a provider thatyou do like of any kind, it's
helpful to find.
I mean this might be make becommon sense, but you can always
ask for recommendations.
You don't have to stick with thedoctor just'cause you always
have.
It's a pain I know to switch,but sometimes you might find
like, you know, if you.
So a therapist, they might knowpeople too.
(39:17):
So if you and it, it is becausePCOS does cross specialties, it
can be tricky, but if you findlike somebody that you're
working with, then ch chancesare they might be able to find
somebody else.
I feel like that's what I, I doa lot of times too when I work
with people, it's like, how canI connect the dots with them
too?
Get other providers that thatcan work better with them.
Kat (39:38):
Which is huge.
as we've already stated, I mean,women's health is so under.
Under, I undervalued.
I do the same.
I help try and connect the dotsfor my clients because it is
extremely frustrating to bemisunderstood, not heard or seen
or taken seriously with thingsthat are going on.
Mm-hmm.
(39:58):
So, yeah.
This is awesome.
Like I said, I will have Liz'sinformation in the show notes.
Definitely reach out to her ifyou have questions about this
episode, message the podcast,and I will pass'em on to Liz.
Thank you so much for coming on,Liz.
You're welcome.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you for tuning in toMilesFromHerView, powered by
(40:18):
KatFit Strength.
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Hit follow or subscribe to stayupdated on the new episodes, and
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(40:41):
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Remember, fitness isn't aboutperfection.
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every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
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