Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
The reason that
you're still googling fertility
support at midnight isn'tbecause you're anxious or
overthinking.
It's because our healthcaresystem in the United States
isn't designed to help youoptimize for pregnancy.
It's designed, for the mostpart, to treat problems after
they happen.
We're going to talk about thistoday and how we can reframe
(00:25):
this in a way that bettersupports you and your growth.
Welcome to I'm Hormonal, yoursource of information about
women's hormone health and howto support your body.
Naturally, I'm your host,bridget Walton, and I'm a
certified functional hormonespecialist and menstrual cycle
coach.
I am on a mission to hold thesehormone conversations with as
(00:45):
many menstruators as possible,because you deserve easier
access to accurate informationabout what's up with your unruly
menstrual cycle and with yourfertility mysteries.
Don't you think it's time thatwe figure this out once and for
all?
Hi and welcome to episode number132 of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton.
(01:07):
I'm so happy that you'rejoining me today and if you're
joining me perhaps because yousaw this podcast title, you're
like oh shit, that feels alittle bit close to home, like I
feel like I've been trying tofigure out for many, many moons
now what's going on with myfertility.
Well, I wanted to record thisepisode for you, because this is
(01:29):
an all too common thought, butit's not necessarily one that
serves you, or at least it's notone that serves most of the
clients that I work with.
I want to have thisconversation to help you reframe
this in a way that puts yousubconsciously in a position
where you are ready to makethings happen.
(01:51):
You're ready to see and acceptthe change that you want to see.
And the first place that weneed to start inspecting is why
are you still again Googling howto support your fertility after
all?
This time it's not somethingthat is your fault.
It's not something that iswrong with you.
It's more about the system as awhole.
(02:12):
Also, a little sneak peek, thisis a topic I'm going to be
talking about in an upcomingexclusive training.
It's going to be hosted laterthis month.
You can find the link in theshow notes to register for the
training.
It's absolutely free and doorsare opening for registration on
Saturday, the 13th.
So we are almost there and Iwould love to see you there for
(02:35):
the live virtual training.
I will talk more at the end ofthis episode about the special
offer that I have for those ofyou listeners of the podcast if
you are able to join live, sostick around for that.
In the meantime, let's runthrough kind of these three
ideas that I wanted to coverwith you today, first being one
(02:57):
of the reasons why you are stillon this quest to figure out
what's going on is because whenyou go to the doctor actually
let me even take a step back Forme, for many of for you perhaps
, growing up in the UnitedStates when something's wrong,
we say sick, I'm going to make adoctor's appointment because
(03:17):
that's what I need to do.
That's the first step.
So we do that.
We get to the doctor.
We say okay, I'm like we arepartners in this.
I need your support on this.
Let's figure out what's goingon.
We put that trust in themautomatically, but oftentimes
(03:37):
the medical system isn't reallyable to partner with us in the
way that we need to figure outthe root cause of what's
happening.
It's more of a corrective.
How do we identify disease andcorrect that?
If we can't name what's wrong,then oh, okay, nothing's wrong.
(03:57):
Labs look fine.
Okay, nothing's wrong.
It's just not a system that iswell set up to suit your whole
body, your whole picture of yourentire health.
Of course, I always love togive the disclaimer that medical
professionals are amazing and,many times, selfless human
(04:20):
beings and they absolutely havethe best interest of the patient
in front of them in mind.
This is nothing against anyparticular physician, right?
This is more a reflection ofthis system as a whole, and
especially especially when itcomes to issues related to gut
health and, many times, women'shormone health, where that
(04:42):
system just isn't set up tosupport you.
So that is one of the mainfactors that's contributing to
you being stagnant,unfortunately.
The second part of this equationis that when you are wanting to
prepare your body for fertility, or if you're somebody who has
irregular cycles or really heavyperiods or no cycles at all,
(05:07):
well, that path to bringing backbalance can look very different
for everyone, and that makes itreally confusing and
conflicting, because we see onsocial media, or we see in
different books, or we see indifferent blogs or on podcasts,
right?
Even something that I suggeston my podcast, which can be
(05:29):
accurate and be very helpful for50% of you just might not be.
You know, it's impossible tosend out a one-to-many message
and have it be what's right inthat moment for every single
person.
You see what I mean, right,we've got to collect as much
information as we can and thendigest that and make a decision
(05:54):
about what is best for us.
Unfortunately, that process cantake a little bit of time.
That being said, I do want tomention kind of three starting
points that well, that I thinkare foundational starting points
.
These are things that I work onwith all of my clients to bring
(06:15):
them back to balance.
So, regardless of what's goingon in your life, what your
specific situation is because Imight not know you and what's
going on in your body, Iprobably don't Regardless of all
of that, the first area that Iwould love for you to inspect is
stress and stress management.
For every single person, stress,when elevated, is going to be
(06:40):
impacting how your body isresponding to shifts in blood
sugar, as well as how it's goingto be producing your sex
hormones, of course, needed tohave a regular and optimal
menstrual cycle.
So if you've listened to thepodcast before, you've heard me
say that, but I'm saying itagain because it is so important
(07:01):
.
We have really normalized beingstressed all the time, at least
again here in this Americanculture, and I know that a lot
of you listening like if you'relike most of my clients right.
You're working in a fast pacedcorporate environment.
You know we feel responsible toourselves for things, but also
(07:22):
to other things to get stuffdone, and I love that.
For you and I'm the same wayright, it's okay to a degree,
but when the scales are tipping,addressing stress and figuring
out how you can mitigate thatfrom your lives, that's going to
be a solid first step.
Hopefully, I didn't go too longon that topic.
(07:45):
The next area that I want you toconsider, that I want you to
focus on, is this conversationabout digestion and how well are
you digesting your food.
Of course, you already knowthat if you aren't getting the
appropriate nutrients from yourfood, that can be a problem,
right?
Because our body needs all ofthese vitamins and minerals, et
(08:08):
cetera, in order to function.
No surprise there.
A couple of ways that you cantell how your digestion is
functioning at a high level isone are you having daily bowel
movements?
Two, are you seeing anyundigested food in your stool?
And three, just consideringafter I eat bread or after I eat
(08:38):
a certain food, am I havingurgency and needing to run to
the bathroom?
Those are three staples thatcan help you get clued into the
fact that, okay, there'ssomething a little bit off here.
Let's focus on digestion, whichis foundation of, like every
other aspect of our health,certainly influential on your
hormone health and fertility.
So that's the second area I'vegot for you to consider.
(09:00):
The third one isn't far off fromdigestion, but taking a beat to
think about and inspect or dosome discovery about potential
dysbiosis in your digestion, inyour digestive system.
So what I mean by that is, ifyou're somebody who has a lot of
bloating, if you have stomachaches or pains, if you have
(09:24):
heartburn, if you have a lot ofbelching, if you have a lot of
gas those are kind ofcornerstone features, let's say
that could indicate there's somedysbiosis, some imbalance in
your gut microbiome.
Having a balanced gutmicrobiome is really quite
important for, again, youroverall health, also very
(09:46):
impactful upon your hormonehealth.
I want to mention one otherkind of facet of this
conversation about dysbiosiswhich is related to inflammation
, because that is also somethingthat can come along with an
imbalanced gut microbiome isinflammation and that is not
going to be doing any solids foryour hormone health and your
(10:08):
hormone balance either.
So stress, fully digesting yourfood and addressing any
potential not potential, butaddressing dysbiosis in your
digestive system.
Those are three starting pointsthat I want you to keep in mind
and figure out.
Right, how are you going toinspect those and take that to
(10:30):
the next level?
Okay, the third thing here andactually, now that I'm reading
my own notes back, I kind ofblurred this into my first
recommendation, or the firstreason why you're still googling
what's going on with yourfertility is because, again,
just coming back to the factthat the United States' medical
(10:52):
system is really treatingsymptoms and not treating the
root cause.
So I will just touch on thisslightly, since I kind of
spoiled this at the first partof the episode.
But this is all to say that ifyou want to actually address an
imbalance with your hormonesright, I'm going to assume why
(11:15):
you're listening to the podcasttoday If you want to address
that imbalance, you have tounderstand what is the root
cause of that imbalance.
If you are just taking a lookat the symptoms, if you're
taking a look at the surfacelevel, what's happening, then
you're just going to be puttingband-aids on the issue.
(11:35):
You're not going to beaddressing it in a way that is
sustainable and long-lasting.
So you don't have to worryabout this in the future,
because I don't want you to haveto worry about this, you know,
way into the future.
I want you to address it onceway into the future.
I want you to address it once,figure it out, and then you'll
be confident about how you needto maintain that change that
(11:57):
you've seen.
So, all of this being said, thisepisode is really one that I
guess I wanted to put togethertoo in order to like validate
your experience, and I'll sharewith you a little bit about me,
not specifically with regards tofertility, but I had years and
years and years of itchy vagina.
(12:19):
Oh my gosh, so good to talkabout to so many people.
Never thought I'd be doing that, but here we are, and so,
regardless, this is somethingthat I took to every single
OBGYN that I went to, that everysingle doctor, and I just
didn't ever, unfortunately, findmyself in a position where I
(12:41):
was with a provider who was ableto take a look at what is the
root cause of what's going on.
They would say, oh well, labslook normal.
Well, yeah, no STIs.
I guess everything's normal andI'm like something is not
normal, right?
So all of that to say I feelyou, I've been there, it's not
(13:03):
that your body is broken, it'snot that you need a little bit
more discipline.
You might feel like you'vetried everything, and I just
want to encourage you becausethis is something that I work
with all of my clients on, andseeing them and their excitement
(13:24):
when they're like Bridget thisis more progress than I've ever
seen with any doctor that I'vebeen to.
That was what I had feedbackfrom, or that was the feedback
that I got from a client who I'mworking with now.
She also has been dealing withitchy vaginas Well, just one
vagina, I don't know why I saidvaginas.
(13:44):
She had chronic constipationfor like months and months and
months got no relief.
But once we started addressingthe foundations of her health,
started taking a look at how dowe support your digestion this
is why it's a staple that Imentioned earlier she was able
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to, within the first four weeks,see huge changes.
This isn't all about.
You know.
This episode isn't meant to belike let me talk through
testimonials or something, but Ijust wanted to share that
because if you're somebody whofeels like, oh my gosh, I've
tried it all, then you're notalone and I just want you to
know that.
If this topic today resonatedwith you.
(14:25):
I want to extend a specialinvitation to you to join me for
this exclusive training that Imentioned at the start of the
episode.
Go ahead to the link in theshow notes where you can either
get on the wait list or, if thedoors are open, you can go ahead
and register for the training.
This is a training where wewill talk more about the medical
(14:46):
system and why it's not workingfor you and what you need to
focus on instead.
So you're going to get a lotfrom that.
But I have a special offer foryou as a listener of the podcast
, because if you are one of thefirst 20 people to either join
the waitlist or register for theevent and you join me live,
(15:07):
then I'm going to send youpersonalized feedback.
First, I'm going to send you aquestionnaire, the same exact
questionnaire and tool that Iuse with all of my one-on-one
clients.
I'm going to send that to youso I can get a bunch of
information about you, whatyou're experiencing, and then
I'm going to provide you thatpersonalized feedback Because,
like I said earlier in theepisode, one to many platforms
(15:30):
like this one, it's only youknow you're going to learn stuff
that's helpful, but the onlyway that I can get you some
support that is tailored to youis if I get information from you
first, so that's why I wantedto extend it here.
This month is the two-yearanniversary of the podcast and I
am just so appreciative for allof you who have been listening,
(15:54):
who have shared with yourfriends or your sister or your
worst enemy, whoever it is, whoyou've brought into the I Am
Hormonal community.
So my way of saying thank youis by extending this opportunity
to get that personalizedfeedback from me, and all you
have to do is be one of thefirst 20 people to get on the
(16:14):
wait list to join theregistration list, whichever one
is open, and just join live,and then you will be good to go.
Okay, gang, that is it from metoday.
If you have any thoughts, ifyou have any feedback, if you
have any questions, would loveto connect with you on Instagram
.
You can find me at.
I'm underscore hormonal.
(16:34):
If you loved today's episodeand got something good out of it
, make sure you subscribe sothat these episodes show up
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No work needed on your side.
Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and
(16:55):
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
my offer for a free strategycall.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
All right, we'll see you on thenext one.