Think weight is the only factor standing between you and pregnancy? There’s more to the story—and it starts with your stress and mindset.
In this powerful episode, Dr. Katie Wood sits down with Dr. Priyanka Venugopal, an OB-GYN turned weight-loss and mindset coach, to unpack the real impact of stress, cortisol, and inner dialogue on fertility. Whether you're navigating PCOS, obesity, or burnout from high-achieving motherhood, this conversation will open your eyes to a more compassionate and effective path forward.
In this episode you'll discover...
-How mindset and stress affect ovulation and hormone balance
-The truth about weight, fertility, and medications like Ozempic
-Three actionable tools to lower cortisol, lose weight naturally & support your fertility
Tune in now to learn how changing your mindset could be the key to weight loss, hormone balance, and finally getting pregnant—without burnout or shame.
Connect with Dr. Priyanka:
-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burnstressloseweight/
-Website: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/
-Freebie: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/hormones
-Podcast: Burn Stress Lose Weight
Finally Get Pregnant Naturally is your go-to TTC podcast for holistic fertility support to help you get pregnant naturally by addressing the root cause of unexplained infertility, secondary infertility, and recurrent miscarriage. Hosted by Dr. Katie Wood, a pharmacist and holistic fertility practitioner, this show offers natural fertility solutions for those on a fertility journey struggling to conceive, navigating miscarriage, or dealing with endometriosis, PCOS, low sperm count, or failed IUI or failed IVF. Whether you're trying to conceive, increase egg quality, optimizing sperm health, or healing after a miscarriage, each episode delivers practical guidance to support your fertility journey. Learn how to improve fertility, balance hormones, regulate your fertile window, and conceive naturally through root cause healing, emotional wellness, and mind-body tools—because true fertility starts from within.
DISCLAIMER: By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use it as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others. This podcast offers information to help the listener cooperate with physicians, mental health professionals or other healthcare providers in a mutual quest for optimal well-being. We advise listeners to carefully review and understand the ideas presented, and to consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having. Under no circumstances shall Pharm to Wellness LLC, any guests or contributors to the Rising into Mindful Motherhood podcast, or any employees, associates, or affiliates of Pharm to Wellness LLC be responsible for damages arising from the use of the podcast. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie (00:00):
In this episode, you'll discover how your mindset and inner dialogue could
(00:05):
be key underlying factors to you feelingoverstressed, struggling to lose those
extra pounds, or having a difficult timein general on your fertility journey.
You'll also learn what hormones arebeing affected when you're dealing with
chronic stress and extra weight, andhow that can impact your fertility.
(00:25):
Plus three simple actionable stepsfor you to de-stress, lose weight, and
thrive on your fertility journey today.
Welcome to the finally GetPregnant Naturally Podcast.
The podcast helping women identifythe real reasons you haven't
conceived or stayed pregnant, soyou and your partner can finally
grow the family of your dreams.
(00:48):
I'm your host, Dr.
Katie Wood.
Let's dive in, shall we?
in this episode, I'll be talking with Dr.
Priyanka Venugopal, a board certifiedOB GYN physician turned founder of
Burn Stress Lose Weight Coachingfor professional working moms.
And in today's episode we'llbe discussing the hormone
(01:09):
secrets you need to feel better
for fertility and wellness results.
So welcome Dr.
Priyanka.
I am looking forward totoday's conversation.
Thank
Priyanka (01:19):
you so much for having me.
I'm so excited to be here.
Katie (01:22):
Yeah, so if you just wanna give us just kind of like a really brief overview
of how you switch from being an OB GYN tobeing a burn stress, lose weight, coach,
what did that journey look like there?
Because I know that that played a bigrole in the coaching that you do today.
Priyanka (01:44):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
If you, the way that I like todescribe the story, I never, I.
Intended to leave medicine.
I was not one of those OBGYNswho was very burned out.
I really deeply have always loved whatI've done, and I always loved women's
health, but as I think many of us, ourstories are informed by our experiences.
(02:06):
And even the decision that Imade eventually to leave clinical
practice to do coaching wasinformed by my own personal journey.
So if you had met me back in 2018,you would've met a very overweight.
Ob, GYN physician.
So I was an expert in, in helpingwomen, with their health and with
their hormones and with their,with their bodies, head to toe.
(02:28):
But when it came to really incorporatingsome of what I taught them into
my own life, I, I really felt likethere was a, a really big gap.
It's like I knew what to do in my headlogically, but somehow I couldn't do it
consistently and for a very long time.
I thought I just wasn't disciplinedenough, or I don't have enough systems
in place, or I don't have enough time.
(02:48):
Or if my kids were better behaved or ifmy husband was more supportive or, or,
or like I had a laundry list of reasonsthat I thought was really my strategic, I.
Gap.
And so for a long time, again,like this is years and years into
the making, I would, make a plan.
I'm gonna count the po, I'm gonna countthe points on the calories, and I'm like,
(03:09):
this is the year, this is the month.
And I would, have somesuccess until inevitably.
And a professional working mom,real life would come in the way.
I would go off track andhence the rollercoaster ride.
And it was back in 20 18,20 19 that I stumbled onto a
podcast very much like this.
And I started to become aware of andunderstand the impact of our mindset
(03:33):
and our perspectives and our thoughtsabout our time, our kids, our partners,
our jobs, our responsibilities, and.
I think a light bulb went on for me.
In my mind, I had no, I, it wasnever a discipline problem, but the
way that I was thinking about mylife really was my biggest obstacle.
So that was when I really doveinto, I went down the rabbit
(03:56):
hole of this coaching podcast.
I listened to every single episode.
I started feeling really somuch more empowered in that I
invested in coaching myself.
And that was where I did a lot of my own.
I went through the journey of changingmy relationship with food, with snacking
and grazing and the glasses of winethat I would have to take a break.
I changed my, completelychanged my experience as a mom.
(04:19):
I.
At the time, my kids were three and ahalf and only six months old, and I had
a lot of thoughts about being a mom andbeing a physician and the life that I was
living, and it's so fascinating how theyliterally, my children did not change
because they cannot change at that age.
But me changing my.
Perspectives about the life I was livingdeeply transformed my experience of them.
(04:42):
And it ex, it changed how I was showingup in the workplace as a physician.
And I think for me, what startedto happen now, this is 2019,
moving into 2020, I decided to getcertified as a life coach myself,
simply because I wanted the skills.
I wanted to deepen that skillset.
And I just, it started out likefor fun coaching people and
it, it was very gratifying.
(05:04):
I was able to create an impact for women.
It was having a ripple effecton their life, like me.
And I realized that it reallywas calling to me a lot more.
So for a very long time I was doing both.
I was practicing as aphysician and coaching.
I had started my business, theunstoppable mom brain back in 2020.
And for a while I was doing both.
And there was a point that came whereI just felt this little tug that
(05:27):
really just pulled me in the directionof coaching and entrepreneurship.
So that was when I decidedto make the pivot full time
to leave clinical practice.
It was a big decision, butthis just called me more.
Katie (05:39):
Mm-hmm.
What a beautiful story.
And I think what really struckme the most, 'cause I think that
this affects so many people.
On different levels is youknew all the information yeah.
That you needed to do, but it was like.
Implementing it and integratingit into your life in a way that it
could be sustainable and consistent.
(06:00):
And I think that that is such a strugglefor many, especially working moms, right?
There's just so much to balance,work, life, family life, keeping
up with the house, right?
The list just goes on and on and on.
So I'm sure that the listenerscan absolutely relate to
that in one way or another.
And I'm sure you know in the future too.
(06:24):
You changing your relationship with foodthat will teach your children to have
a healthier relationship with food too.
So it's gonna have this like beautifulgenerational ripple effect as well.
So I really love your story and thinkingof someone who is trying to conceive.
What I am seeing in my clients,in my community, stress is
(06:48):
just such a huge factor.
We deal with it in our daily life,whether we're trying to conceive or not.
And then when you add trying toconceive in the mix, especially once
more time has gone by and maybe morethings have come up and on your journey
and it can really zap your fertility.
So when we're talkingabout stress and fertility.
(07:11):
What hormones are we talking about?
What hormones are mostly being affected?
Priyanka (07:17):
Yeah, this is a good, this is a good question.
I, I think about, I, I, I even rememberthis even as a, as a practicing
physician in my OB GYN practice.
Somebody would come in saying,I'm trying to get pregnant and I'm
having a difficult time, and thisis a part of the conversation.
Sometimes we think we needto have a stress-free.
A stress-free life to optimize ourchances of, and this is going to
(07:41):
apply to fertility, but also tohit really any goal, like I need to
be completely stress-free so thatI can, achieve my next big thing.
And I think that it reallypaints stress in a very.
All or nothing villain villainor, or hero kind of light.
So the way that I first like to thinkabout hormones and even stress is that
cortisol, which is our stress hormone,it is produced by the adrenal glands.
(08:05):
It is, it's a superhero in small doses.
If we think about the, the reasonthat it's here, it's here for a fight.
Flight, freeze and fawn.
These are the four very, verynormal survival mechanisms that our
brilliant brain has evolutionarilycreated for us to survive.
So the very first thing to reallystart to catch in my experience is
(08:27):
stress on its own is not a bad thing.
Being in fight flight freezeon its own is not a bad thing.
It's a survival mechanism.
But I think what is importantis how, especially working
moms are overreliant on stress.
As a strategy to get through their day.
So I, I start with this because.
If you're relying on stress and fear anda lot of judgment and criticism and like
(08:52):
that type of, you have an inner, I callthis like a soundtrack in your mind to,
muscle out and buckle through your day.
It's not surprising every time you hitan obstacle that includes fertility or
infertility in this case, that that'sgoing to be your coping mechanism.
So the moment if you, this is a, this isan exercise for everyone to think about
(09:12):
as you're listening to this episode.
The moment that you hit an obstacle.
Infertility, you're trying to getpregnant, you're having a difficult
time, you're trying to lose weight,you're having a difficult time.
Your kids are not behaving eventhough you're telling them to.
If your brain goes to all ofthe what if scenarios, I call
these wiffy what ifs, wiffy.
It's really, really normal.
(09:33):
And also we have to be,become really aware of it.
And I think about this as, imagineif it, in, in thousands of years
ago, evolutionarily, if your body'sperceiving that you're in a state of.
A lack of safety.
If you are surrounded by bears andlions and tigers and you're not
in a safe environment, that's whatcortisol is signaling to your brain
(09:54):
that you're not safe right now.
We have to fight or flight.
It's not an optimal time to get pregnant.
It's not going to be an optimaltime to release fat on your body,
which is a very precious resource.
It's not going to be the timethat you can dream and imagine
big things for your personal life.
I start by saying in small doses,cortisol and stress is very healthy and
(10:15):
normal, but we are overutilizing it.
And it does absolutely impactour ability to get pregnant.
It's just signaling to ourbrain, this is not a good time.
She's clearly running away froma lion or a tiger or a bear.
And I think, if, if you're listeningto this, you can ask yourself, how
often am I making the spreadsheetin front of me like a lion?
How often am I making thisobstacle in front of me feel
(10:37):
like a lion or a bear or a tiger?
And I think that that in itself canbe eye-opening to see how often are
we utilizing stress as a strategy.
Katie (10:47):
Yeah, so I'm thinking in my mind for someone who's listening, and
maybe they are so like subconsciouslystressed and they have certain patterns
and things like that, that they justmight not even realize that all these
endless emails or this project that I'mdoing is acting like a lion or a tiger.
(11:09):
What would you say Could be some.
Symptoms that people are maybeoverlooking or maybe even patterns
that are indicating that you arein like a chronic state of stress.
Priyanka (11:23):
Yeah, this is great.
I think that, there's probablysome markers across the board.
I.
Across lots of women.
But I think that it's also importantto individualize us understanding what
are our call, I call these siren songs.
What are your personal siren songs thatmaybe you're in a little bit of a stress
state and we have to make a change to ourstrategy to come out of it, to regulate
your nervous system to come out of it.
(11:44):
So I'm gonna shear mine and if thisthese sound familiar, then again
it's because we're not so uniqueas as much as we think we are.
But for me, I'll notice that Ifeel really fatigued in my mind.
I might have.
I might have been in bed for X numberof hours, like the quote unquote
right number of hours to go to bed.
But the quality of rest I'm getting isclearly not doing what it needs to do
(12:06):
because I'm still feeling dysregulated.
I'm still feeling fatigued in my brain.
I noticed that by quality of thinking, theability for me to make decisive decisions
for me to have high focus time is zapped.
My mind is focusing on rumination.
I'm second guessing myself.
I'm spinning a lot in perseverating or.
Worrying about a problem.
I keep turning it over.
(12:27):
I flash forward or I flash back toall the mistakes of the past or the
possible problems of the future.
These are little siren songs tome that stress is running my life.
Another one, this is a personalone for me, but I can tell when
I'm being a little snippy or earor a lot, a bit, not a little bit.
A lot of it.
Snippy or irritable with the people whoI love the most when I'm being short
(12:49):
with them for no apparent reason, justlike they're just being themselves and I
find myself just being short with them.
To me, it's a little sirensong that Bianca, or I feel a
little bit stressed right now.
I.
What's going on?
It's a, it's a kind of asiren song for me to check in.
The other one that I willnotice is I will be stuck.
So if I look at certain results inmy life, for me, weight loss was a
(13:10):
big one for me, but you can reallythink about any goal that you have.
If you find yourself stuck inthe planning phase and in the
learning phase, and you're notable to execute on what you said.
It's not a discipline problemfor most working women.
For most moms out there,it's a dysregulation problem.
We're so dysregulated thatour body is in freeze.
(13:31):
Our body is in fight or flight.
We're not able to take, makeactive changes and move on what
we said we were going to do.
So I think we can all ask ourselves,if you check in with your body,
you can tell when you're feelingthat buzzy stressed feeling.
How is it showing up of how isa fly on the wall watching you?
What does it actually look like?
Katie (13:51):
Yeah, I love those personal examples and I can relate to it too,
just when your brain just seems tobe a little clunky and like brain
fog and it's just hard to workon whatever task you may have.
I think that that's definitelya common one as well.
Switching gears a little bitin terms of your expertise.
(14:12):
So we talked aboutstress a little bit, but.
Being overweight or obese, thatcan have an impact on fertility.
So what would you say could havethe biggest positive impact on
someone's fertility who may bestruggling with losing weight, but
they want to get pregnant and theywant to have a healthy pregnancy?
(14:34):
Because I have had.
I have a lot of people in my dms kind ofsharing what's going on for them and, and
a lot of times they'll say, oh, my doctorwon't do X, Y, Z until I lose weight.
Whatever that may look like for them.
And then some people want to trynaturally, but they just maybe
don't have the right tools or theirplateauing in their weight loss.
Priyanka (14:57):
I think it's unfortunate, I've seen this as well where,
you're a medical professional.
Your doctor might say you have to loseweight first before you can embark
on maybe your fertility journey.
Or maybe you can embark on thething that you really want to do.
And if I have my scientist haton and my physician hat on,
I can see why they say that.
Because obesity or especially ifyou're at a certain level of percent
(15:19):
body fat or BMIs and other criteriato look at, there are increased risks.
In pregnancy, there are increasedrisks in the delivery process.
So you know when I have the hatof a physician or scientist on,
I can see why they say that.
And also I think two thingscan be true at the same time.
So there might be data for that.
But what it also does is it can reallyput a lot of pressure on women that
(15:41):
their weight is a villain and it'ssomething that they have to solve right
now with a, again, talk about adding ona layer of stress, a lot of pressure and
stress that I have to solve this problembefore I can move forward in my life.
And I think that that is, again, itspeaks to the all or nothingness that.
We all have, I think physicians have it.
I think patients have it, women haveit where we think that we have to
(16:03):
completely solve a problem to makeforward progress or to get pregnant or to
lose the weight that they want to lose.
So I think that what I would start with,there's plenty of data and research
now that does show that lifestylechanges can have a monumental impact on
not just your ability to lose weight,but in your ability to get pregnant
and to have a healthy pregnancy.
(16:24):
The mistake we make, and again,this is like an overachievers thing,
is we think we have to do it allperfectly for it to even matter.
And I remember for me, this needs to looklike if I can't do it all, if I can't
do it perfectly, then why bother trying?
Because doing a small amounts.
Doing small changes is probably not goingto matter anyway, so we throw our hands
up in the air, or we don't even makethose small changes that can actually
(16:47):
have a massive, a massive shift forward.
So the way that I think about this isif there are, let's say, 10 different
things that you can do to improveyour lifestyle, your day, day-to-day
routine, that is taking care of yourmind, your spirit, and your body,
we get to decide what are those.
Maybe there's 10 different things.
Maybe you don't havetime yet to do all 10.
(17:08):
Maybe you don't have the habitsin place to incorporate all 10.
Maybe you don't have the, the timein your day to incorporate all 10.
But what would be the impactif you just picked one or two?
One or two small simple habits thatactually took care of your mind, your
spirit and your body and the way thatI think about, how do I know which of
the, out of the 10, there's 10 of them,which do, which ones do I start with?
(17:32):
I would ask everyone to really Googleyour brain for what the, I'm gonna share
what my answer is, but I'm gonna haveyou Google your brain for the answer.
If you think about one or two habitsthat are like dominoes, if you knock
those one or two dominoes down, theystart to knock down the other dominoes.
What would those one or two dominoes be?
And if you just do those reallyconsistently and really simply think
(17:54):
about the massive impact of what wouldhappen a week from now, a month from
now, a year from now, it can reallymake a difference with your life.
So for me, when I think about what arethose outta the 10 things that we can do
to get healthy, to lose the weight, wewant to improve our chances for fertility.
For me, the, the top two things arereally to eat when my gut is actually
(18:14):
hungry and stop it comfortable.
The The reason that I like this,I call this just like a body tool.
You don't need a calculator.
You don't need MyFitnessPal.
You don't have to count pointsor calories or macros to actually
learn how to connect with your body.
Again, that's the intention.
The intention is for us to connect withour body again, to connect with our
(18:36):
gut again, to not ignore our signals.
We don't have to ever be hungryto lose the weight we want,
despite what you may have thought.
We have to heal thatpart of our relationship.
And we also don't have to treatour body like a suitcase or a
trash can where we have to eatextra now to save food for later.
So I think that that's the very firstprinciple that is very, very impactful.
(18:56):
Eat when you're hungry.
I.
Stop when you're not, and that'sgoing to challenge your food,
your, your relationship with food.
If you're using food to take a breakfrom your life, it's gonna come up
just by incorporating this one habit.
And the second one that I think,just scientifically is going
to prime your body for success.
To release fat and to improve yourchances for fertility is to take
(19:16):
a break from highly processed.
Ultra refined food and you get to decidewhat that looks like for you, how deep
dive you wanna go into that, how youknow how strict you want to be with that.
But you can really optimizeyour fat burning potential
and your hormone physiology.
If you took a break from highlyprocessed foods like sugar, like.
(19:37):
All the things that are milled into powderand then turned into food, it impacts
your insulin pathways insulin resistance,which is a part of infertility.
So I think that these two things,just these two habits, if I had to
pick two out of 10, these would bethe two that I think would be really
Katie (19:50):
impactful.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
And I think for me personally, myone, like my first domino that I
know is super supportive is eatingbreakfast in the morning because I
know if, and I'll just notice it even.
Today, like not today, today,but in recent times, if I don't
(20:11):
have a protein rich breakfast,I'm feeling hungrier sooner.
I'm almost getting low bloodsugar symptoms, jittery, not
really feeling good, and.
Feeling like I just needto eat something right now.
So I feel like for me personally, havinga protein focused breakfast really
sets me up for success in the day.
(20:32):
My metabolism, my cortisol,my blood sugar regulation.
Mm-hmm.
So that's a big domino piece for me.
And so what I see commonly with peoplewho are struggling with weight is.
PCOS and a lot of timesanovulation as well.
So would you like to dive in a little biton what hormones are being affected within
(20:56):
the body when we do maybe have a littlebit of extra weight that we're carrying?
Priyanka (21:01):
Yeah, the biggest thing with PCOS, and fat that's
stored on our body is estrogen.
That's the number one hormonethat is being impacted.
That's the pathway that's beingimpacted the most, and that's because
fat cells on our bodies, they, they.
They produce estrogen.
So it, it, we, we get into a hyper,it's called a hyper estrogen state,
where our body's producing this estrogenthat can absolutely impact ovulation.
(21:25):
So when you think about, not to getinto too much detail on, the hormone
pathways of our body, but it impactsyour ability to ovulate regularly.
It gets in the way of yourbody's ability to cycle every
single month where your ovaries.
Release an egg.
So I think that one of the veryfirst things, and and a lot of times
people will say with PCOS is weightloss is one of the strategies and
(21:47):
the solutions to being able to startovulating regularly is to lose weight.
That being said, I have seen alot of people that are thin, that
are not overweight, that have PCOSbecause PCOS is not purely associated
with women that are overweight.
So I think that it's reallyimportant to say that because again.
We can blame our weight, and yes,it will make a, it will play a
(22:09):
role, but sometimes we use a broadbrush to paint a fine painting.
So I think it's really important whenwe think about PCOS or N Ovulation or
irregularly Ovulating, that yes, weightloss is going to play a role, but
there's a genetic component to this.
There is other components to the diagnosisof PCOS that is separate from just weight
(22:29):
loss, which I think is really important.
Katie (22:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
And something thatcrossed my mind earlier.
So with your OB GYN practitionerbackground, and now that you're
in a field focused on weight loss,what are your thoughts on ozempic?
Or related, injectables for someonewho is trying to get pregnant
(22:52):
or who wants to get pregnant.
Priyanka (22:55):
Yeah, so I think that this is a nuanced conversation.
In general, like my, my verybroad thoughts about Ozempic or
any GLP one agonist is that itis a very, very valuable tool
for the right person I think.
Again, this is the broadbrush fine painting example.
Again, to paint something as very goodor very bad, or all good or all bad, I
(23:15):
think is doing us a serious disservice.
So there's a few thoughts on this.
One is it can be a very valuabletool for the right person to
have as a part of their toolbox.
So the way that I think about yourbody and your weight is if you're
building a house, some people tryto build their entire house with
one hammer, which is count calories.
And maybe they'll get, they'llget there and it might work.
(23:37):
But for most of us, we wantlots of tools in our toolbox.
We want the saw.
And I don't know about you,but I want electric tools.
I want tools that are power drillsand not just a hammer and nails.
I really want to have.
All the tools in my toolbox.
So for me, that has been coaching,that has absolutely been the mindset
element of relationships with food.
When you have an urge to eatfood when your gut's not hungry,
(24:00):
there's a mindset gap there.
So yes, we can use Ozempic or a GLPone agonist to help with our urges
and cravings and mental food chatter.
Absolutely.
And also imagine that in addition tothat tool you pick up a hammer, maybe
Ozempic is like a, a screwdriver.
Imagine that you had a power toolthat also taught you the power of your
thoughts and your perspectives that'screating your over desire to begin with.
(24:24):
So I think that, I just wanna paintthat kind of as a analogy to the way
that I think about GLP one agonists.
I worked with some clients that are on it.
I've worked with a client who wason it when she first started working
with me, and then she got off itduring our coaching journey together
and she's lost a lot of weight.
So I, I think that it's importantto think about it in that way.
When it comes to pregnancy or long termresults, what the data has shown with GLP
(24:47):
one agonists or OZEMPIC specifically, is.
If you're going to be on it,you are likely going to need
to be on it chronically.
This is not one of those cra I thinksome people come into it with this
crash diet idea mentality of, letme use it to lose all the weight I
want, and then I'll just go off of it.
And if you don't do this other workof understanding your relationship
with food and where your urgesand cravings are coming from, most
(25:10):
people will gain the weight back.
So it's so important thatwe think about it as a tool.
And also ask ourselves, whatrole do we want it to play?
Is it the star of the show or is it a,an accessory, like a, a side, a side
person that is helping me get to my goal?
Hmm.
Katie (25:25):
Mm-hmm.
I love the way that you painted thatpicture and, and really explained how
it's for the, the right person thathas the right support really to make
sustainable results for them as well.
And.
In my mind when someone who iswanting to get pregnant, like we
also have to think about nutritionand, and all of those things, and
(25:46):
making sure that you still have thosereally important fertility building
blocks and, and everything in place.
So I think having that additional supportand those additional tools, even if you
do decide to use something like Ozempicis going to really make a difference in
the type of outcomes that you receive.
Priyanka (26:04):
Yeah.
And one other point I wanna makeon the Ozempic GLP one agonist is
I've seen plenty of women on itand they don't lose any weight.
I.
Because they're not using andthinking about the other things.
We use it as and, and I will say,forthcoming, Lee, that it, I think it
does get overutilized because we justwant to solve this problem so much.
(26:26):
We think we've tried everything.
And so I think that we, when weover lean on it without doing these
other pieces of the process, we do,we're doing ourselves a disservice.
Katie (26:35):
Mm-hmm.
Priyanka (26:35):
I agree.
Katie (26:36):
I
Priyanka (26:36):
agree.
Katie (26:37):
If you could share three simple action steps.
For the listeners today, whatwould you like to leave with them?
Priyanka (26:47):
Oh, this is so good.
So I think the very first one is somethingthat might seem small or might seem minor,
but it is proven scientifically to deeplyhelp you regulate your nervous system.
And that is actuallyhaving self-compassion.
So putting a hand on your heartand actually saying it, this might
(27:09):
feel awkward, it might feel silly,but actually saying out loud, this
is just me experiencing stress.
This is me feeling worried.
This is me experiencing concern or fear.
Actually naming the emotion out loudand validating your experience in it
actually releases oxytocin in your brain.
It's fascinating, just having someself-compassion, which sometimes
(27:32):
seems frivolous or sometimes seemsindulgent, is actually scientifically
going to help you feel better.
The counteracts, the effect of cortisol.
So as you're embarking on yourfertility journey and you feel worried.
Around it if you're worriedthat it's not going to work.
Putting a hand on your heartand validating your experience,
validating your worry, validatingyour concern is really very impactful.
(27:54):
The second actionable stepis to answer your wies.
I.
So when you have a what if thoughtlingering in your head, if we
leave them open-ended, what if thishappens and what if that happens?
And what if I don't get pregnant?
What if I don't lose the weight?
What if I don't follow through?
We leave them open-ended, our bodygenerates a lot of anxiety and fear and
(28:14):
it's, that's what kind of that buzzingfeeling that feels really dysregulated.
So one of the strategies that I'vefound to be very impactful is to answer
your wiffy, answer your what ifs.
What if I don't get pregnant?
Answer the question, what then?
And when we start to close theloop on some of our biggest
fears, we again, are doing it.
(28:34):
We're doing ourselves a solid, we'retaking our brain to a future where we are
figuring it out and solving the problems.
I think about that as a second regulatorystep that we can take is to answer
the open-ended questions we have.
We might not love the answer, solet me just preface this by saying
you might not love the answer,but at least you have an answer.
And then the last one is this, thismight be hard, but I wanna encourage
(28:59):
everyone to, to practice this anyway,is to actually learn how to love the
process and not just love the prize.
And I say this as a, as aperpetual like gold star, a plus
chaser my whole entire life.
I always want the a you, youwant the pound down, you want to
see a positive pregnancy test.
Think about, thinkabout that as the prize.
(29:20):
And it makes sense that we love those.
But if we are not also loving the journey,even the sticky messy parts and loving
our experience, or at least finding howhuman it is for us to experience those,
then it makes our entire experience.
Fairly miserable because the timesthat we're gonna have the prize
are tiny little spots in time.
(29:41):
The process to get the prizeis our whole entire life.
So when we do the work of loving theprocess, it's being in a growth mindset.
This is the work of Carol Dweck.
You actually release dopamine in yourbrain and dopamine feels really good.
So I say this because we can reallyleverage a lot of our hormone
health by the thoughts we're havingin going through any obstacle.
Katie (30:05):
I love those.
Thank you so much.
And I think the first two especiallyjust really anchors in safety in the
body, which I think is so important,especially for fertility and like
you said, for weight loss as well,because our bodies won't release.
Any extra pounds or fat or anythingif we're not feeling safe in our body.
(30:27):
And yeah, those were beautiful.
So thank you for sharing those.
And I know you have a freebie forthe listeners, hormone Secrets
to Weight Loss and Wellness, ifyou wanna share that with them.
Priyanka (30:38):
Sure.
So I've just noticed on the internetfor the last year when you know social
media on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,people are using perimenopause like this
buzzword, and then you start going downthe rabbit hole of lab checking your
labs and checking your hormone levels.
And as an OB, GYN, seeing some ofthat has made me cringe so much
because I know women are wastingso many hours of their time.
(31:01):
So that in combination with myexperience as a stress and weight
loss coach, I put together.
I, I think about this as a 30 minute,really comprehensive training on the
three hormone pathways that I thinkmost impact women in their thirties,
forties, and fifties To feel better.
The way that I like to describeit is on the inside out, when
(31:22):
we feel better on the inside.
We will feel better on the outside.
When we feel better on the outside.
We feel better on the inside.
So it's a cycle that we can actuallystart to leverage and your age doesn't
have to rob you of that experience.
So I get into the threedifferent hormone pathways.
It is really a testament to how you canhit any goal at any age if you understand
(31:43):
how your body and your brain are working.
So you can get that at burnstress lose weight.com/hormones.
Katie (31:50):
Beautiful.
And the link will be inthe show notes as well.
And tell everyone about your podcast,the Burn Stress Lose Weight podcast
and what they could expect ifthey wanted to give it a listen.
Priyanka (32:02):
Yeah, so it's, I think if I have actually described this
podcast, we just celebrated thethree year anniversary of the show.
It's.
Been, I think about it as like my way of,of having a, a love letter to my audience
on a weekly basis where I share, I thinkyou know, a lot of what you heard today,
I, I talk about these concepts in detail.
I get into STR strategy,actionable steps that you can take.
(32:24):
I get into mindset, obstacles thata lot of women are encountering
and I share a lot of my real life,massive epic fails as I navigate this
because I think it's so important to.
Let our brain see that there'sno such thing as perfection.
So leveraging the idea that wecan actually embrace the journey
has been really amazing for me.
(32:46):
So yeah, the Burn Stress LoseWeight podcast, it's available
on every podcast platform.
Katie (32:50):
Amazing.
And I love that you include mindset,'cause I think that that's a
really important piece that can bemissing for, one avenue or another.
And let the listeners knowwhere they can learn more,
find you, and connect with you.
Priyanka (33:02):
Sure.
So I am at Burn Stress,lose Weight on Instagram.
I love to chat in the dms so you canDM me if you found something valuable.
Tag us and let us know that you, youlove the show or you took something
away and you can find out moreinformation about how to work with
me at burn stress lose weight.com.
Katie (33:20):
Amazing.
Thanks so much for your time andyour expert shares today, Dr.
Pka.
I really enjoyed the episode.
Thanks.
(33:42):
Thank you so much for tuning into theRising into Mindful Motherhood podcast.
If this episode resonated with you orgave you an aha moment, stop what you're
doing right now and write a review.
This simple act of kindness helpsme get this podcast out to connect
with as many women as I possibly can.
I also have a special offer.
(34:02):
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Let me know what resonatedwith you the most and why.
So connect with me and my free Facebookcommunity or tag me on Instagram.
You'll find both listed below.
Thanks again from the bottom ofmy heart for tuning into this
(34:23):
episode, and I'll see you next time.
In this episode, you'll discover how your mindset and inner dialogue could
(00:05):
be key underlying factors to you feelingoverstressed, struggling to lose those
extra pounds, or having a difficult timein general on your fertility journey.
You'll also learn what hormones arebeing affected when you're dealing with
chronic stress and extra weight, andhow that can impact your fertility.
(00:25):
Plus three simple actionable stepsfor you to de-stress, lose weight, and
thrive on your fertility journey today.
Welcome to the finally GetPregnant Naturally Podcast.
The podcast helping women identifythe real reasons you haven't
conceived or stayed pregnant, soyou and your partner can finally
grow the family of your dreams.
(00:48):
I'm your host, Dr.
Katie Wood.
Let's dive in, shall we?
in this episode, I'll be talking with Dr.
Priyanka Venugopal, a board certifiedOB GYN physician turned founder of
Burn Stress Lose Weight Coachingfor professional working moms.
And in today's episode we'llbe discussing the hormone
(01:09):
secrets you need to feel better
for fertility and wellness results.
So welcome Dr.
Priyanka.
I am looking forward totoday's conversation.
Thank
Priyanka (01:19):
you so much for having me.
I'm so excited to be here.
Katie (01:22):
Yeah, so if you just wanna give us just kind of like a really brief overview
of how you switch from being an OB GYN tobeing a burn stress, lose weight, coach,
what did that journey look like there?
Because I know that that played a bigrole in the coaching that you do today.
Priyanka (01:44):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
If you, the way that I like todescribe the story, I never, I.
Intended to leave medicine.
I was not one of those OBGYNswho was very burned out.
I really deeply have always loved whatI've done, and I always loved women's
health, but as I think many of us, ourstories are informed by our experiences.
(02:06):
And even the decision that Imade eventually to leave clinical
practice to do coaching wasinformed by my own personal journey.
So if you had met me back in 2018,you would've met a very overweight.
Ob, GYN physician.
So I was an expert in, in helpingwomen, with their health and with
their hormones and with their,with their bodies, head to toe.
(02:28):
But when it came to really incorporatingsome of what I taught them into
my own life, I, I really felt likethere was a, a really big gap.
It's like I knew what to do in my headlogically, but somehow I couldn't do it
consistently and for a very long time.
I thought I just wasn't disciplinedenough, or I don't have enough systems
in place, or I don't have enough time.
(02:48):
Or if my kids were better behaved or ifmy husband was more supportive or, or,
or like I had a laundry list of reasonsthat I thought was really my strategic, I.
Gap.
And so for a long time, again,like this is years and years into
the making, I would, make a plan.
I'm gonna count the po, I'm gonna countthe points on the calories, and I'm like,
(03:09):
this is the year, this is the month.
And I would, have somesuccess until inevitably.
And a professional working mom,real life would come in the way.
I would go off track andhence the rollercoaster ride.
And it was back in 20 18,20 19 that I stumbled onto a
podcast very much like this.
And I started to become aware of andunderstand the impact of our mindset
(03:33):
and our perspectives and our thoughtsabout our time, our kids, our partners,
our jobs, our responsibilities, and.
I think a light bulb went on for me.
In my mind, I had no, I, it wasnever a discipline problem, but the
way that I was thinking about mylife really was my biggest obstacle.
So that was when I really doveinto, I went down the rabbit
(03:56):
hole of this coaching podcast.
I listened to every single episode.
I started feeling really somuch more empowered in that I
invested in coaching myself.
And that was where I did a lot of my own.
I went through the journey of changingmy relationship with food, with snacking
and grazing and the glasses of winethat I would have to take a break.
I changed my, completelychanged my experience as a mom.
(04:19):
I.
At the time, my kids were three and ahalf and only six months old, and I had
a lot of thoughts about being a mom andbeing a physician and the life that I was
living, and it's so fascinating how theyliterally, my children did not change
because they cannot change at that age.
But me changing my.
Perspectives about the life I was livingdeeply transformed my experience of them.
(04:42):
And it ex, it changed how I was showingup in the workplace as a physician.
And I think for me, what startedto happen now, this is 2019,
moving into 2020, I decided to getcertified as a life coach myself,
simply because I wanted the skills.
I wanted to deepen that skillset.
And I just, it started out likefor fun coaching people and
it, it was very gratifying.
(05:04):
I was able to create an impact for women.
It was having a ripple effecton their life, like me.
And I realized that it reallywas calling to me a lot more.
So for a very long time I was doing both.
I was practicing as aphysician and coaching.
I had started my business, theunstoppable mom brain back in 2020.
And for a while I was doing both.
And there was a point that came whereI just felt this little tug that
(05:27):
really just pulled me in the directionof coaching and entrepreneurship.
So that was when I decidedto make the pivot full time
to leave clinical practice.
It was a big decision, butthis just called me more.
Katie (05:39):
Mm-hmm.
What a beautiful story.
And I think what really struckme the most, 'cause I think that
this affects so many people.
On different levels is youknew all the information yeah.
That you needed to do, but it was like.
Implementing it and integratingit into your life in a way that it
could be sustainable and consistent.
(06:00):
And I think that that is such a strugglefor many, especially working moms, right?
There's just so much to balance,work, life, family life, keeping
up with the house, right?
The list just goes on and on and on.
So I'm sure that the listenerscan absolutely relate to
that in one way or another.
And I'm sure you know in the future too.
(06:24):
You changing your relationship with foodthat will teach your children to have
a healthier relationship with food too.
So it's gonna have this like beautifulgenerational ripple effect as well.
So I really love your story and thinkingof someone who is trying to conceive.
What I am seeing in my clients,in my community, stress is
(06:48):
just such a huge factor.
We deal with it in our daily life,whether we're trying to conceive or not.
And then when you add trying toconceive in the mix, especially once
more time has gone by and maybe morethings have come up and on your journey
and it can really zap your fertility.
So when we're talkingabout stress and fertility.
(07:11):
What hormones are we talking about?
What hormones are mostly being affected?
Priyanka (07:17):
Yeah, this is a good, this is a good question.
I, I think about, I, I, I even rememberthis even as a, as a practicing
physician in my OB GYN practice.
Somebody would come in saying,I'm trying to get pregnant and I'm
having a difficult time, and thisis a part of the conversation.
Sometimes we think we needto have a stress-free.
A stress-free life to optimize ourchances of, and this is going to
(07:41):
apply to fertility, but also tohit really any goal, like I need to
be completely stress-free so thatI can, achieve my next big thing.
And I think that it reallypaints stress in a very.
All or nothing villain villainor, or hero kind of light.
So the way that I first like to thinkabout hormones and even stress is that
cortisol, which is our stress hormone,it is produced by the adrenal glands.
(08:05):
It is, it's a superhero in small doses.
If we think about the, the reasonthat it's here, it's here for a fight.
Flight, freeze and fawn.
These are the four very, verynormal survival mechanisms that our
brilliant brain has evolutionarilycreated for us to survive.
So the very first thing to reallystart to catch in my experience is
(08:27):
stress on its own is not a bad thing.
Being in fight flight freezeon its own is not a bad thing.
It's a survival mechanism.
But I think what is importantis how, especially working
moms are overreliant on stress.
As a strategy to get through their day.
So I, I start with this because.
If you're relying on stress and fear anda lot of judgment and criticism and like
(08:52):
that type of, you have an inner, I callthis like a soundtrack in your mind to,
muscle out and buckle through your day.
It's not surprising every time you hitan obstacle that includes fertility or
infertility in this case, that that'sgoing to be your coping mechanism.
So the moment if you, this is a, this isan exercise for everyone to think about
(09:12):
as you're listening to this episode.
The moment that you hit an obstacle.
Infertility, you're trying to getpregnant, you're having a difficult
time, you're trying to lose weight,you're having a difficult time.
Your kids are not behaving eventhough you're telling them to.
If your brain goes to all ofthe what if scenarios, I call
these wiffy what ifs, wiffy.
It's really, really normal.
(09:33):
And also we have to be,become really aware of it.
And I think about this as, imagineif it, in, in thousands of years
ago, evolutionarily, if your body'sperceiving that you're in a state of.
A lack of safety.
If you are surrounded by bears andlions and tigers and you're not
in a safe environment, that's whatcortisol is signaling to your brain
(09:54):
that you're not safe right now.
We have to fight or flight.
It's not an optimal time to get pregnant.
It's not going to be an optimaltime to release fat on your body,
which is a very precious resource.
It's not going to be the timethat you can dream and imagine
big things for your personal life.
I start by saying in small doses,cortisol and stress is very healthy and
(10:15):
normal, but we are overutilizing it.
And it does absolutely impactour ability to get pregnant.
It's just signaling to ourbrain, this is not a good time.
She's clearly running away froma lion or a tiger or a bear.
And I think, if, if you're listeningto this, you can ask yourself, how
often am I making the spreadsheetin front of me like a lion?
How often am I making thisobstacle in front of me feel
(10:37):
like a lion or a bear or a tiger?
And I think that that in itself canbe eye-opening to see how often are
we utilizing stress as a strategy.
Katie (10:47):
Yeah, so I'm thinking in my mind for someone who's listening, and
maybe they are so like subconsciouslystressed and they have certain patterns
and things like that, that they justmight not even realize that all these
endless emails or this project that I'mdoing is acting like a lion or a tiger.
(11:09):
What would you say Could be some.
Symptoms that people are maybeoverlooking or maybe even patterns
that are indicating that you arein like a chronic state of stress.
Priyanka (11:23):
Yeah, this is great.
I think that, there's probablysome markers across the board.
I.
Across lots of women.
But I think that it's also importantto individualize us understanding what
are our call, I call these siren songs.
What are your personal siren songs thatmaybe you're in a little bit of a stress
state and we have to make a change to ourstrategy to come out of it, to regulate
your nervous system to come out of it.
(11:44):
So I'm gonna shear mine and if thisthese sound familiar, then again
it's because we're not so uniqueas as much as we think we are.
But for me, I'll notice that Ifeel really fatigued in my mind.
I might have.
I might have been in bed for X numberof hours, like the quote unquote
right number of hours to go to bed.
But the quality of rest I'm getting isclearly not doing what it needs to do
(12:06):
because I'm still feeling dysregulated.
I'm still feeling fatigued in my brain.
I noticed that by quality of thinking, theability for me to make decisive decisions
for me to have high focus time is zapped.
My mind is focusing on rumination.
I'm second guessing myself.
I'm spinning a lot in perseverating or.
Worrying about a problem.
I keep turning it over.
(12:27):
I flash forward or I flash back toall the mistakes of the past or the
possible problems of the future.
These are little siren songs tome that stress is running my life.
Another one, this is a personalone for me, but I can tell when
I'm being a little snippy or earor a lot, a bit, not a little bit.
A lot of it.
Snippy or irritable with the people whoI love the most when I'm being short
(12:49):
with them for no apparent reason, justlike they're just being themselves and I
find myself just being short with them.
To me, it's a little sirensong that Bianca, or I feel a
little bit stressed right now.
I.
What's going on?
It's a, it's a kind of asiren song for me to check in.
The other one that I willnotice is I will be stuck.
So if I look at certain results inmy life, for me, weight loss was a
(13:10):
big one for me, but you can reallythink about any goal that you have.
If you find yourself stuck inthe planning phase and in the
learning phase, and you're notable to execute on what you said.
It's not a discipline problemfor most working women.
For most moms out there,it's a dysregulation problem.
We're so dysregulated thatour body is in freeze.
(13:31):
Our body is in fight or flight.
We're not able to take, makeactive changes and move on what
we said we were going to do.
So I think we can all ask ourselves,if you check in with your body,
you can tell when you're feelingthat buzzy stressed feeling.
How is it showing up of how isa fly on the wall watching you?
What does it actually look like?
Katie (13:51):
Yeah, I love those personal examples and I can relate to it too,
just when your brain just seems tobe a little clunky and like brain
fog and it's just hard to workon whatever task you may have.
I think that that's definitelya common one as well.
Switching gears a little bitin terms of your expertise.
(14:12):
So we talked aboutstress a little bit, but.
Being overweight or obese, thatcan have an impact on fertility.
So what would you say could havethe biggest positive impact on
someone's fertility who may bestruggling with losing weight, but
they want to get pregnant and theywant to have a healthy pregnancy?
(14:34):
Because I have had.
I have a lot of people in my dms kind ofsharing what's going on for them and, and
a lot of times they'll say, oh, my doctorwon't do X, Y, Z until I lose weight.
Whatever that may look like for them.
And then some people want to trynaturally, but they just maybe
don't have the right tools or theirplateauing in their weight loss.
Priyanka (14:57):
I think it's unfortunate, I've seen this as well where,
you're a medical professional.
Your doctor might say you have to loseweight first before you can embark
on maybe your fertility journey.
Or maybe you can embark on thething that you really want to do.
And if I have my scientist haton and my physician hat on,
I can see why they say that.
Because obesity or especially ifyou're at a certain level of percent
(15:19):
body fat or BMIs and other criteriato look at, there are increased risks.
In pregnancy, there are increasedrisks in the delivery process.
So you know when I have the hatof a physician or scientist on,
I can see why they say that.
And also I think two thingscan be true at the same time.
So there might be data for that.
But what it also does is it can reallyput a lot of pressure on women that
(15:41):
their weight is a villain and it'ssomething that they have to solve right
now with a, again, talk about adding ona layer of stress, a lot of pressure and
stress that I have to solve this problembefore I can move forward in my life.
And I think that that is, again, itspeaks to the all or nothingness that.
We all have, I think physicians have it.
I think patients have it, women haveit where we think that we have to
(16:03):
completely solve a problem to makeforward progress or to get pregnant or to
lose the weight that they want to lose.
So I think that what I would start with,there's plenty of data and research
now that does show that lifestylechanges can have a monumental impact on
not just your ability to lose weight,but in your ability to get pregnant
and to have a healthy pregnancy.
(16:24):
The mistake we make, and again,this is like an overachievers thing,
is we think we have to do it allperfectly for it to even matter.
And I remember for me, this needs to looklike if I can't do it all, if I can't
do it perfectly, then why bother trying?
Because doing a small amounts.
Doing small changes is probably not goingto matter anyway, so we throw our hands
up in the air, or we don't even makethose small changes that can actually
(16:47):
have a massive, a massive shift forward.
So the way that I think about this isif there are, let's say, 10 different
things that you can do to improveyour lifestyle, your day, day-to-day
routine, that is taking care of yourmind, your spirit, and your body,
we get to decide what are those.
Maybe there's 10 different things.
Maybe you don't havetime yet to do all 10.
(17:08):
Maybe you don't have the habitsin place to incorporate all 10.
Maybe you don't have the, the timein your day to incorporate all 10.
But what would be the impactif you just picked one or two?
One or two small simple habits thatactually took care of your mind, your
spirit and your body and the way thatI think about, how do I know which of
the, out of the 10, there's 10 of them,which do, which ones do I start with?
(17:32):
I would ask everyone to really Googleyour brain for what the, I'm gonna share
what my answer is, but I'm gonna haveyou Google your brain for the answer.
If you think about one or two habitsthat are like dominoes, if you knock
those one or two dominoes down, theystart to knock down the other dominoes.
What would those one or two dominoes be?
And if you just do those reallyconsistently and really simply think
(17:54):
about the massive impact of what wouldhappen a week from now, a month from
now, a year from now, it can reallymake a difference with your life.
So for me, when I think about what arethose outta the 10 things that we can do
to get healthy, to lose the weight, wewant to improve our chances for fertility.
For me, the, the top two things arereally to eat when my gut is actually
(18:14):
hungry and stop it comfortable.
The The reason that I like this,I call this just like a body tool.
You don't need a calculator.
You don't need MyFitnessPal.
You don't have to count pointsor calories or macros to actually
learn how to connect with your body.
Again, that's the intention.
The intention is for us to connect withour body again, to connect with our
(18:36):
gut again, to not ignore our signals.
We don't have to ever be hungryto lose the weight we want,
despite what you may have thought.
We have to heal thatpart of our relationship.
And we also don't have to treatour body like a suitcase or a
trash can where we have to eatextra now to save food for later.
So I think that that's the very firstprinciple that is very, very impactful.
(18:56):
Eat when you're hungry.
I.
Stop when you're not, and that'sgoing to challenge your food,
your, your relationship with food.
If you're using food to take a breakfrom your life, it's gonna come up
just by incorporating this one habit.
And the second one that I think,just scientifically is going
to prime your body for success.
To release fat and to improve yourchances for fertility is to take
(19:16):
a break from highly processed.
Ultra refined food and you get to decidewhat that looks like for you, how deep
dive you wanna go into that, how youknow how strict you want to be with that.
But you can really optimizeyour fat burning potential
and your hormone physiology.
If you took a break from highlyprocessed foods like sugar, like.
(19:37):
All the things that are milled into powderand then turned into food, it impacts
your insulin pathways insulin resistance,which is a part of infertility.
So I think that these two things,just these two habits, if I had to
pick two out of 10, these would bethe two that I think would be really
Katie (19:50):
impactful.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
And I think for me personally, myone, like my first domino that I
know is super supportive is eatingbreakfast in the morning because I
know if, and I'll just notice it even.
Today, like not today, today,but in recent times, if I don't
(20:11):
have a protein rich breakfast,I'm feeling hungrier sooner.
I'm almost getting low bloodsugar symptoms, jittery, not
really feeling good, and.
Feeling like I just needto eat something right now.
So I feel like for me personally, havinga protein focused breakfast really
sets me up for success in the day.
(20:32):
My metabolism, my cortisol,my blood sugar regulation.
Mm-hmm.
So that's a big domino piece for me.
And so what I see commonly with peoplewho are struggling with weight is.
PCOS and a lot of timesanovulation as well.
So would you like to dive in a little biton what hormones are being affected within
(20:56):
the body when we do maybe have a littlebit of extra weight that we're carrying?
Priyanka (21:01):
Yeah, the biggest thing with PCOS, and fat that's
stored on our body is estrogen.
That's the number one hormonethat is being impacted.
That's the pathway that's beingimpacted the most, and that's because
fat cells on our bodies, they, they.
They produce estrogen.
So it, it, we, we get into a hyper,it's called a hyper estrogen state,
where our body's producing this estrogenthat can absolutely impact ovulation.
(21:25):
So when you think about, not to getinto too much detail on, the hormone
pathways of our body, but it impactsyour ability to ovulate regularly.
It gets in the way of yourbody's ability to cycle every
single month where your ovaries.
Release an egg.
So I think that one of the veryfirst things, and and a lot of times
people will say with PCOS is weightloss is one of the strategies and
(21:47):
the solutions to being able to startovulating regularly is to lose weight.
That being said, I have seen alot of people that are thin, that
are not overweight, that have PCOSbecause PCOS is not purely associated
with women that are overweight.
So I think that it's reallyimportant to say that because again.
We can blame our weight, and yes,it will make a, it will play a
(22:09):
role, but sometimes we use a broadbrush to paint a fine painting.
So I think it's really important whenwe think about PCOS or N Ovulation or
irregularly Ovulating, that yes, weightloss is going to play a role, but
there's a genetic component to this.
There is other components to the diagnosisof PCOS that is separate from just weight
(22:29):
loss, which I think is really important.
Katie (22:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
And something thatcrossed my mind earlier.
So with your OB GYN practitionerbackground, and now that you're
in a field focused on weight loss,what are your thoughts on ozempic?
Or related, injectables for someonewho is trying to get pregnant
(22:52):
or who wants to get pregnant.
Priyanka (22:55):
Yeah, so I think that this is a nuanced conversation.
In general, like my, my verybroad thoughts about Ozempic or
any GLP one agonist is that itis a very, very valuable tool
for the right person I think.
Again, this is the broadbrush fine painting example.
Again, to paint something as very goodor very bad, or all good or all bad, I
(23:15):
think is doing us a serious disservice.
So there's a few thoughts on this.
One is it can be a very valuabletool for the right person to
have as a part of their toolbox.
So the way that I think about yourbody and your weight is if you're
building a house, some people tryto build their entire house with
one hammer, which is count calories.
And maybe they'll get, they'llget there and it might work.
(23:37):
But for most of us, we wantlots of tools in our toolbox.
We want the saw.
And I don't know about you,but I want electric tools.
I want tools that are power drillsand not just a hammer and nails.
I really want to have.
All the tools in my toolbox.
So for me, that has been coaching,that has absolutely been the mindset
element of relationships with food.
When you have an urge to eatfood when your gut's not hungry,
(24:00):
there's a mindset gap there.
So yes, we can use Ozempic or a GLPone agonist to help with our urges
and cravings and mental food chatter.
Absolutely.
And also imagine that in addition tothat tool you pick up a hammer, maybe
Ozempic is like a, a screwdriver.
Imagine that you had a power toolthat also taught you the power of your
thoughts and your perspectives that'screating your over desire to begin with.
(24:24):
So I think that, I just wanna paintthat kind of as a analogy to the way
that I think about GLP one agonists.
I worked with some clients that are on it.
I've worked with a client who wason it when she first started working
with me, and then she got off itduring our coaching journey together
and she's lost a lot of weight.
So I, I think that it's importantto think about it in that way.
When it comes to pregnancy or long termresults, what the data has shown with GLP
(24:47):
one agonists or OZEMPIC specifically, is.
If you're going to be on it,you are likely going to need
to be on it chronically.
This is not one of those cra I thinksome people come into it with this
crash diet idea mentality of, letme use it to lose all the weight I
want, and then I'll just go off of it.
And if you don't do this other workof understanding your relationship
with food and where your urgesand cravings are coming from, most
(25:10):
people will gain the weight back.
So it's so important thatwe think about it as a tool.
And also ask ourselves, whatrole do we want it to play?
Is it the star of the show or is it a,an accessory, like a, a side, a side
person that is helping me get to my goal?
Hmm.
Katie (25:25):
Mm-hmm.
I love the way that you painted thatpicture and, and really explained how
it's for the, the right person thathas the right support really to make
sustainable results for them as well.
And.
In my mind when someone who iswanting to get pregnant, like we
also have to think about nutritionand, and all of those things, and
(25:46):
making sure that you still have thosereally important fertility building
blocks and, and everything in place.
So I think having that additional supportand those additional tools, even if you
do decide to use something like Ozempicis going to really make a difference in
the type of outcomes that you receive.
Priyanka (26:04):
Yeah.
And one other point I wanna makeon the Ozempic GLP one agonist is
I've seen plenty of women on itand they don't lose any weight.
I.
Because they're not using andthinking about the other things.
We use it as and, and I will say,forthcoming, Lee, that it, I think it
does get overutilized because we justwant to solve this problem so much.
(26:26):
We think we've tried everything.
And so I think that we, when weover lean on it without doing these
other pieces of the process, we do,we're doing ourselves a disservice.
Katie (26:35):
Mm-hmm.
Priyanka (26:35):
I agree.
Katie (26:36):
I
Priyanka (26:36):
agree.
Katie (26:37):
If you could share three simple action steps.
For the listeners today, whatwould you like to leave with them?
Priyanka (26:47):
Oh, this is so good.
So I think the very first one is somethingthat might seem small or might seem minor,
but it is proven scientifically to deeplyhelp you regulate your nervous system.
And that is actuallyhaving self-compassion.
So putting a hand on your heartand actually saying it, this might
(27:09):
feel awkward, it might feel silly,but actually saying out loud, this
is just me experiencing stress.
This is me feeling worried.
This is me experiencing concern or fear.
Actually naming the emotion out loudand validating your experience in it
actually releases oxytocin in your brain.
It's fascinating, just having someself-compassion, which sometimes
(27:32):
seems frivolous or sometimes seemsindulgent, is actually scientifically
going to help you feel better.
The counteracts, the effect of cortisol.
So as you're embarking on yourfertility journey and you feel worried.
Around it if you're worriedthat it's not going to work.
Putting a hand on your heartand validating your experience,
validating your worry, validatingyour concern is really very impactful.
(27:54):
The second actionable stepis to answer your wies.
I.
So when you have a what if thoughtlingering in your head, if we
leave them open-ended, what if thishappens and what if that happens?
And what if I don't get pregnant?
What if I don't lose the weight?
What if I don't follow through?
We leave them open-ended, our bodygenerates a lot of anxiety and fear and
(28:14):
it's, that's what kind of that buzzingfeeling that feels really dysregulated.
So one of the strategies that I'vefound to be very impactful is to answer
your wiffy, answer your what ifs.
What if I don't get pregnant?
Answer the question, what then?
And when we start to close theloop on some of our biggest
fears, we again, are doing it.
(28:34):
We're doing ourselves a solid, we'retaking our brain to a future where we are
figuring it out and solving the problems.
I think about that as a second regulatorystep that we can take is to answer
the open-ended questions we have.
We might not love the answer, solet me just preface this by saying
you might not love the answer,but at least you have an answer.
And then the last one is this, thismight be hard, but I wanna encourage
(28:59):
everyone to, to practice this anyway,is to actually learn how to love the
process and not just love the prize.
And I say this as a, as aperpetual like gold star, a plus
chaser my whole entire life.
I always want the a you, youwant the pound down, you want to
see a positive pregnancy test.
Think about, thinkabout that as the prize.
(29:20):
And it makes sense that we love those.
But if we are not also loving the journey,even the sticky messy parts and loving
our experience, or at least finding howhuman it is for us to experience those,
then it makes our entire experience.
Fairly miserable because the timesthat we're gonna have the prize
are tiny little spots in time.
(29:41):
The process to get the prizeis our whole entire life.
So when we do the work of loving theprocess, it's being in a growth mindset.
This is the work of Carol Dweck.
You actually release dopamine in yourbrain and dopamine feels really good.
So I say this because we can reallyleverage a lot of our hormone
health by the thoughts we're havingin going through any obstacle.
Katie (30:05):
I love those.
Thank you so much.
And I think the first two especiallyjust really anchors in safety in the
body, which I think is so important,especially for fertility and like
you said, for weight loss as well,because our bodies won't release.
Any extra pounds or fat or anythingif we're not feeling safe in our body.
(30:27):
And yeah, those were beautiful.
So thank you for sharing those.
And I know you have a freebie forthe listeners, hormone Secrets
to Weight Loss and Wellness, ifyou wanna share that with them.
Priyanka (30:38):
Sure.
So I've just noticed on the internetfor the last year when you know social
media on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,people are using perimenopause like this
buzzword, and then you start going downthe rabbit hole of lab checking your
labs and checking your hormone levels.
And as an OB, GYN, seeing some ofthat has made me cringe so much
because I know women are wastingso many hours of their time.
(31:01):
So that in combination with myexperience as a stress and weight
loss coach, I put together.
I, I think about this as a 30 minute,really comprehensive training on the
three hormone pathways that I thinkmost impact women in their thirties,
forties, and fifties To feel better.
The way that I like to describeit is on the inside out, when
(31:22):
we feel better on the inside.
We will feel better on the outside.
When we feel better on the outside.
We feel better on the inside.
So it's a cycle that we can actuallystart to leverage and your age doesn't
have to rob you of that experience.
So I get into the threedifferent hormone pathways.
It is really a testament to how you canhit any goal at any age if you understand
(31:43):
how your body and your brain are working.
So you can get that at burnstress lose weight.com/hormones.
Katie (31:50):
Beautiful.
And the link will be inthe show notes as well.
And tell everyone about your podcast,the Burn Stress Lose Weight podcast
and what they could expect ifthey wanted to give it a listen.
Priyanka (32:02):
Yeah, so it's, I think if I have actually described this
podcast, we just celebrated thethree year anniversary of the show.
It's.
Been, I think about it as like my way of,of having a, a love letter to my audience
on a weekly basis where I share, I thinkyou know, a lot of what you heard today,
I, I talk about these concepts in detail.
I get into STR strategy,actionable steps that you can take.
(32:24):
I get into mindset, obstacles thata lot of women are encountering
and I share a lot of my real life,massive epic fails as I navigate this
because I think it's so important to.
Let our brain see that there'sno such thing as perfection.
So leveraging the idea that wecan actually embrace the journey
has been really amazing for me.
(32:46):
So yeah, the Burn Stress LoseWeight podcast, it's available
on every podcast platform.
Katie (32:50):
Amazing.
And I love that you include mindset,'cause I think that that's a
really important piece that can bemissing for, one avenue or another.
And let the listeners knowwhere they can learn more,
find you, and connect with you.
Priyanka (33:02):
Sure.
So I am at Burn Stress,lose Weight on Instagram.
I love to chat in the dms so you canDM me if you found something valuable.
Tag us and let us know that you, youlove the show or you took something
away and you can find out moreinformation about how to work with
me at burn stress lose weight.com.
Katie (33:20):
Amazing.
Thanks so much for your time andyour expert shares today, Dr.
Pka.
I really enjoyed the episode.
Thanks.
(33:42):
Thank you so much for tuning into theRising into Mindful Motherhood podcast.
If this episode resonated with you orgave you an aha moment, stop what you're
doing right now and write a review.
This simple act of kindness helpsme get this podcast out to connect
with as many women as I possibly can.
I also have a special offer.
(34:02):
If you send me a screenshot of yourreview, I will take $250 off one
of my premium coaching containers.
Let me know what resonatedwith you the most and why.
So connect with me and my free Facebookcommunity or tag me on Instagram.
You'll find both listed below.
Thanks again from the bottom ofmy heart for tuning into this
(34:23):
episode, and I'll see you next time.
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