Maggie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and cat. She works in IT audit, and in her free time she loves spending time outdoors, reading, and exercising (now- in moderation!). Maggie and her husband welcomed a baby boy just a few weeks ago at the end of January! From Denial to Recovery to Pregnant! Join me and Maggie, as we discuss the benefit of period recovery before fertility treatment.

In This Episode:

• The perfectionist pathway into period loss
• The sobering results of not responding to the Provera challenge 
• How to overcome food guilt during recovery 
• The macro counting trap preventing you from eating enough
• How motherhood will challenge your relationship with food 
• Getting your period back in 6 weeks 
• The benefit of restoring your period before fertility treatment 

Transcript:

Lindsey Lusson  00:01

Once you got your period back, do you feel that made you really confident that you could get pregnant? Or did you have more like, mental hurdles you had to overcome?

Maggie  00:10

I think I was still anxious coming out of period recovery all this time I had been working on getting my period back. I wasn’t sure that, if once I got it back when I have other fertility issues, that was also something that was just kind of in the back of my mind. But again, something that I would never know and I would never be able to control.

Maggie  00:30

I knew I had the tool that I needed to be able to get pregnant. Just understanding my cycle better and also having the support from all of the other ladies in the program with me. Even after the program ended, like I keep in touch, supporting each other trying to get pregnant. And then actually, once we all did get pregnant, it’s been really amazing to be there for everyone. 

Lindsey Lusson  00:51

Welcome to the Period Recovery and Fertility Podcast. Here, we discuss the challenging, rewarding and life changing process of recovering your period and finding freedom with food and exercise. Whether you’re hoping to regain your cycle to get your health back on track or you’re ready to become a mama, this podcast is for you. While the recovery process isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, it’s my hope to bring you both information and inspiration during your own recovery journey. I’m your host, registered dietitian and fellow HA woman, Lindsey Lusson. 

Lindsey Lusson  01:22

Maggie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and cat. She works in IT audit, and in her free time she loves spending time outdoors, reading, and exercising (now- in moderation!). Maggie and her husband welcomed a baby boy just a few weeks ago at the end of January! 

Lindsey Lusson  01:38

Okay, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Period Recovery and Fertility Podcast. I have a past client with me today, Maggie. Welcome to the podcast. 

Maggie  01:47

Hi, Lindsey, thanks for having me.

Lindsey Lusson  01:48

Absolutely. Well, it’s funny because we worked together almost to the day a year ago, and here you are now. I think we just before we push record, we’re talking 31 weeks pregnant. Is that right?

Maggie  02:00

Yeah, yeah. It’s crazy, because it feels like it was a long time ago that I was in my program. But also, like, not that long ago. I’m already 31 weeks is, well, crazy, but very exciting.

Lindsey Lusson  02:13

It literally feels like yesterday. Like whenever… I know it has been a while since we chatted. But like I do remember very distinctly our first conversation, our last conversation, your time in the program. And so it’s fun to kind of go back and to get to have this conversation a year later with kind of that, like end result of really where we were wanting to go. Everything kind of coming full circle. 

Lindsey Lusson  02:35

So why don’t you share with listeners, if you can, a little bit more about your halfway into period loss. I know that, like many of our clients who grew up as an athlete and just a lot of just high activity level competitive environment. Tell us a little bit more just about kind of your your start, and what you kind of feel like maybe paid some of the things to your pathway into period loss. 

Maggie  02:59

Yeah, yeah. So growing up, I was a competitive gymnast from the earliest I can remember, all the way through high school. And while I love the sport of gymnastics and always will. I mean, it’s taught me a lot of grit and dedication. There’s also a huge pressure on all of the girls to be the smallest version of yourself. And I think my coaches did a really good job of not trying to push that upon us too much. But as a young girl, and I think it’s really just human nature to start noticing the girls that you’re competing against. What they look like. 

Maggie  03:35

We’re all wearing skin tight, tiny little leotards, though it’s hard not to and just compared to your own body. So I remember from, like, a very young age, just being aware of what I looked like and others as well. And then,  like I mentioned, gymnastics is very competitive. So I think it kind of forced me into this perfectionist mindset too. 

Maggie  03:58

And school, I always wanted to be the best. Later in life, when I took up running, I always wanted to be the fastest or on the furthest. And then, of course, ultimately, that led to my wanting to be like the fittest girl and like, look the best. So it’s kind of like story short of you know where period recovery stem from.

Lindsey Lusson  04:17

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think especially in sports, like Emily, who’s a coach in our program, past client of our program too, but she grew up dancing. Ended up dancing professionally. And just talking about the idea that it’s kind of human nature to compare, and you’re just spending nine hours a day in a leotard around other people in a leotard. And it’s like you just can’t help but start picking up some of those habits. That’s not necessarily to say, like, anything’s wrong with the sport. It’s just to say that would be an easy thing to kind of have playing in the back of your mind. 

Lindsey Lusson  04:50

And so as a competitive gymnast, did you start your period at a normal age? Or were you more of a late bloomer, not starting your period till 16, 17, 18?

Maggie  04:59

So surprisingly, I did start it at a normal age. But maybe not so surprisingly, it was when I was injured for a couple of months. I think I was in seventh grade when I first got my period. But like I said, I was practicing, really, at the time. So I do wonder if maybe I had not been injured, if I wouldn’t have started as soon as it did. 

Maggie  05:23

But yeah, then after that, throughout high school, I had, like, fairly normal periods. I think they’re probably a little bit longer than the average woman. But nothing that ever concerned me. There’s also such a long time ago, I remember doctors asking about this. It’s hard to remember exactly how regular they were. But then by the time I got to college, I was on birth control, and for the most part, they were pretty regular. At that point, I never really thought anything else of it. When it finally did start to go away many, many years later.

Lindsey Lusson  05:55

Yeah, and so was it not until you came off the pill that you became aware that you became aware that you weren’t getting a period? Like it was just la, la, la, ignorance is bliss. I’m gonna continue to be an athlete, be lean. And then we didn’t know until we came off the pill?

Maggie  06:12

Right, right. So backing it up, like six months before my wedding, I decided I wanted to “get in the best shape” of my life. So I hired a personal trainer, and I started macro counting. I dieted like really, really hard for those six months leading up to my wedding. I lost a lot of weight in a very short amount of time. And during that time, I was on birth control, and there were a few months where I didn’t get my period at all. Then it came back but it was so super, super light. 

Maggie  06:45

And I remember going to my doctor, my gynecologist, during that time, and I mentioned it to her. And she just said, Oh, it’s probably because you’ve been on the pill for such a long time, it’s not really that big of a deal. Once you’re trying to get pregnant, like you’ll come off of it and hopefully it’ll come back and no issues. Well, obviously there were issues. Then I got married. Thought, you know, I could kind of loosen up the reins on the macro counting. Because that had kind of started to consume my life, along with making sure that I was exercising a ton every day. I was just so so invested in making sure that I stayed a certain size after going into my wedding. 

Maggie  07:24

And then afterwards, I didn’t really want to gain any of that weight back, because I just thought I liked the way that I looked. But meanwhile, I was also struggling so much internally because I was… I was grumpy all the time. I felt depleted and fatigued, my hair was falling out. So I followed that pattern for, like, probably another year where I was kind of loosely counting that growth, but not really, like, I could kind of assume how many calories I eaten in a da. But not exactly tracking.

Maggie  07:58

I do things like trying to eat less during the day, when I know is going out with friends and going to have a bigger calorie meal later in the day. So I followed that for probably, like a year after my wedding. Then my husband and I decided that we wanted to try to start a family. So I got off of birth control. And I just have this feeling in my mind. Let’s call it like women’s intuition or something, that I just like wasn’t going to get my period back. But regardless, I was still surprised and upset when three months later I still didn’t have my period. So that’s when I started kind of like reaching or like looking into what might be causing it. 

Maggie  08:39

I think I found you on Instagram at that time. Like, the No Period, Now What book and started kind of like looking into, like, what might be causing this.

Lindsey Lusson  08:49

Yeah, yeah. In your search for, why am I not getting my period? Do you feel like you had more help? Like, what did your doctor say? Or did your doctor say anything?

Maggie  09:00

Um, so my my doctor ran some tests for me. I did, like, the Provera challenge. Didn’t get my period, but still took some blood tests to see what might be going on. And I remember I didn’t get my period, which she said was the goal of using Provera for 10 days, or whatever it was. So I was kind of like, upset and frustrated that I didn’t even get it back then. And then my blood test came back, and she was like, your estrogen  looks low. 

Maggie  09:30

I don’t really know what’s going on. It was like, but I’m still not getting my period. And she was like, sorry, I can’t really help you that much. So she was like, I can refer you to a fertility specialist. Then I kind of, I tried to go down the path of looking into fertility specialists. But that’s also when I started following your account and found more information just from you. Doing like, more research. But yeah, my gynecologist wasn’t super helpful figuring out what was going on. 

Maggie  10:01

The fertility specialist did have a lot more insight and information for me. Just like from our initial conversation, I think he was also speculating that I had HA because it was just the initial consult. So he didn’t run any tests or anything. But he did tell me at the end of the meeting, like, maybe you should try to start exercising less and eat more and gain some weight. Which was good advice, but just not super helpful when it’s that big.

Lindsey Lusson  10:32

For sure. Well, and I have to put myself in the clinician shoes for a second. This is the first time you’ve met somebody. And, like, usually when I have people coming to me it’s an elephant in the room, if we’re not talking about what’s been going on with food and exercise and body changes. But from their perspective, it might be a really uncomfortable conversation. And they’re like, I don’t want to call somebody out on having a borderline eating disorder if I just first met them. I’m sure it’s an uncomfortable conversation, and they don’t want to dig too deep if they don’t have enough information from the get go. 

Lindsey Lusson  11:04

But typically, I do hear people have better luck getting diagnosed at with an REI than an OB. It’s interesting, though, because, like, if your OB had been following you and she took like a hot second to look at the weight history in your chart, feel like she could have put like, two and two together pretty quickly, about… Like, okay, prior to this year, Maggie was maintaining her weight around this amount, and then there was this drop, and then she wasn’t getting her period on the pill, and then she came off. 

Lindsey Lusson  11:33

You know what I mean? Like, I don’t know. I just think, like, if we could think a little objectively, we could piece it together and give people a little bit more direction than I don’t know what to do. Go spend money at a fertility specialist and then know that a fertility specialist at the end of the day is probably going to start prescribing some meds. Is that your experience on next steps?

Maggie  11:52

Yeah, so it’s funny. You say that about like my… no tracking my weight, because before the wedding, when I went to her and said I hadn’t gotten a period a few months. I told her, I was like, I did lose, like, quite a bit of weight recently. And she was like, Yeah, I wouldn’t do anything. And now thinking back, I’m like, that’s crazy. 

Maggie  12:13

But so then I did end up going to the fertility specialist. And again, I think that maybe he’s just seen this a little bit more. Because he did diagnose me as having, well, he called it female athlete Triad. Which I knew was the same as HA. I really admire what he did for me. Because I think I went to him right before I ended up joining your program, because I was hoping that he would say, like, oh, we can start you on Clomid or some other fertility drug, and we’ll get you pregnant ASAP. Like, no issues. That wasn’t the case. 

Maggie  12:49

I went in and he was like, we could do hormone injections, but your hormone levels are so low right now that I’m really not confident that it would even work for you. And like I said, this is beginning of November, he was like, it’s going to be really tough mentally and physically to do this throughout the holidays. So actually, take some time now to commit to like, exercising less and eating more. 

Maggie  13:18

So that’s when I it finally dawned on me that like, I tried to do, like the period recovery on my own initially, and then I tried to go the fertility route. And both of them didn’t work. What I really needed to do was change my lifestyle and mindset around food and exercise. So that’s when I finally realized I was like, I gotta do something. Regardless of how I want to get pregnant, I need to change my lifestyle.

Lindsey Lusson  13:43

Man, what a great doctor. And there are so many gems reproductive endocrinologist, I do feel like they see more of it. And I love that he also wasn’t there to like bs you or waste your time. Some of it totally could be like an inexperience. Like, either doctors really don’t or areas really don’t see a ton of HA, or at least they don’t think that they do. 

Lindsey Lusson  14:04

But I interviewed a client yesterday, and she was talking about how she did four rounds of Letrozole that failed. Before her Rei was like, I think you have HA. And she was like, oh my god, I just wasted like, five months of my life, we spent money. Like it would have been so helpful to know that before. But I mean, it sounds like you had a really great experience there. And so I’m curious… Do a timeline for us real quick. What month in the year did you come off the pill only to discover no period?

Maggie  14:33

So I got married in July, 2022. I came off the pill in April 2023. August, 2023 was when I got like the initial like Provera test with my… And then, about a month later, went to the fertility specialist. Had like my initial consult. I think that’s often when I initially met with you. 

Lindsey Lusson  14:55

I was going to say, because we visited in September of 2023. I was looking back at notes.

Maggie  15:00

So I was kind of getting like the same advice from both of you guys. And then I think I had like a follow up with him beginning of November. Then when he told me this news, then that’s when I reached out to you. And I was like, Okay, I gotta do something actually about this, and force myself to do period recovery.

Lindsey Lusson  15:18

So Maggie, what was your first hesitation when we visited in September. We visited in September. You decided I’m going to work on my own, or I’m going to do something different. And then we came back together in November, we did work together. So what was the initial cause for pause? Like, what was your big hesitation in getting support with really tackling this issue from the root?

Maggie  15:39

I think, honestly, I’m just always really determined to do things on my own. And like I said, I read the book, No period. Now what. And I learned so much from your Instagram post too. I felt like I knew what I needed to do, and I thought I could just do it on my own and kind of like, white knuckle through it. And I learned very quickly. But it was not the case.

Maggie  16:02

Because I think after I met with you, I really tried for maybe two weeks recover my period, eat more, exercise less. Then I remember, I was on a road trip to a family reunion, four hours away. And so I was going into this weekend, it was like, I’m gonna embrace. We’re probably gonna stop for fast food when we get there. My aunt’s cooking. She’s such a great cook. But like, there was no vegetable in sight for the whole weekend. And I was like, I’m gonna embrace this. I’m gonna, like, do it right. Then on the drive home, it was like, I’m so uncomfortable. I feel so guilty about what I ate. I can’t do this anymore, and threw in the towel immediately. 

Maggie  16:43

So literally left in two weeks on my own period recovery. I think the next day went for a super intense cycle class. So I just really wanted to do this on my own. Thought that I could, but yeah, very quickly realized that that was not going to be possible for me. That I needed the support and to see that other women were going through the same thing as me. Because I think it can be a very isolating experience to try to do period recovery on your own. 

Maggie  17:16

I remember, like telling some people once I did join the group that I was doing period recovery and what all it entailed. And people would kind of scoff and be like, oh, yeah, that sounds hard, like no exercise and eating more. That sounds awesome. And for like a normal person without Ha, it does sound really easy. But for me, and like all the other women that were going through period recovery, it’s so difficult. So I think that was the light bulb moment for me, when I was like, can’t do this by myself. I need help from other people.

Lindsey Lusson  17:49

Yeah for sure. I have a friend who had fertility issues, nothing major. But it took them a while to get pregnant with her first and I remember we were visiting them one summer, and she’s like, Oh my gosh. What you do is so amazing. She was like, I wish that that was my fertility issue. Like, I wish that what I had to do was to just eat more carbs and not exercise. And I was like, I love you, but like, you are highlighting exactly why this is so hard for people is because they feel like this alien and they feel really lost and misunderstood. 

Lindsey Lusson  18:23

Like it is hard for some people to not go on a spin ride after they’ve had an indulgent meal. It is hard for some people to actually allow themselves to have that indulgent meal. And so it’s a unique issue, and I can’t emphasize enough how much it’s just so important to like you need support in the process, and you need the right support,. AKA not your friends who don’t get it, aka not just your husband because wear him down. Oh, support is so huge. 

Lindsey Lusson  18:55

Where do you think all of the guilt around food started? Was it from like hiring the trainer and just getting really granular and limiting with your food around your wedding? Or did it stem back even further for you?

Maggie  19:09

I think it’s kind of a combination of both. I think, like my gymnastics background, I definitely had some disordered eating habits growing up. Just because all the other girls on the team. Like there were a huge little bit had full bloom eating disorders, and it was, well known throughout our team. Which is really sad enough setting that the coaches and parents didn’t do more to help them. But then I think when I went off to college, my group of friends at that point, no one was as focused around dieting and staying healthy. 

Maggie  19:45

And I think that’s just kind of like a college thing. But then, yeah, after hiring the personal trainer, getting really into macro counting, that was definitely when I got super intense about trying to track what I was eating. And I remember even before I got off of birth control and was trying to get pregnant and recover my period, I just remember like feeling so confused having this mindset around food and exercise.

I remember thinking like, I can’t even look at food without thinking of how many calories it is and the macros. And if I eat this today, then I should eat that tomorrow. Yeah, it was just such a terrible way of thinking about food. And also, just like, such a sad way to live. Because I didn’t get to enjoy certain things like I could. I just remember, like seeing other people  enjoying whatever meal. And I never could feel that way.

Lindsey Lusson  20:43

For sure. I mean, I think I was about to ask you… You already answered my question. But I was about to ask you if you thought that macro accounting just really the way that your mind around food? Because that was my experience, and that is what I hear from a lot of people. And I think that kind of this whole facade of like flexible dieting, or like eat whatever you want, as long as It Fits Your Macros. It’s like, Yeah, but you’re thinking about that all day long. This morning, I had to go run something over to a friend, and so I was kind of like, delayed on when I was going to eat my normal breakfast. And so I opened up our fridge while I was making eggs, and I was like, I’m gonna have an apple. 

Lindsey Lusson  21:16

Just like, mindlessly had an apple. I was like, damn. Like, seven years ago, Do you know how much noise there would have been around Oh, well, if you have the apple, well, then you can’t have the toast. And how many carbs is that? And shouldn’t you be saving that for later, since you guys had birthday cake? Like it was just, like, this whole thing.The fact that people live their lives like that, 24/7 and think that it’s like, this is how I just sustain everything. Like, that’s insane!

Maggie  21:38

Yeah, yeah. Literally insane. I remember the same thing. Very similar, where, like, I would make my same breakfast every day, and I would only count exactly how many grams of bananas I would put on my oatmeal. And I was like, that’s insane. Like, why did I only think that I could eat a certain amount of banana. Just eat, like…

Lindsey Lusson  21:58

We’re talking about a banana. Something that contains a ton of potassium, vitamins or mineral. In what world do we live in where things like that need to be limited or counted? Because it sounds like it started around your wedding and then you got the wedding bod and then you wanted to maintain the wedding bod. Well, spoiler alert, you can’t maintain it because it wasn’t sustainable. And so there was kind of this back and forth with macro accounting. 

Lindsey Lusson  22:20

By the time you got to the point of being like, all right, period recovery, here we are. I need to not count macros. Was that hard? Like, was that a hard transition for you to move away from counting everything?

Maggie  22:31

It was super hard. And I think that’s why I failed so quickly doing the period recovery on my own. Because I was trying to recover my period, but I was also still counting macros, because in my mind, I was like, oh, I need to get to this 2500 calories. So I need to eat so much more. And I remember a few times just having this massive bowl of grapes that I would eat, because I was like, oh, I need, like, an extra 300 calories or something. I’ll measure out these grapes and that will be enough to get me there. And that’s crazy. That obviously wasn’t going to…

Lindsey Lusson  23:11

That’s not going to make a dent. That’s like putting a drop of water in the ocean, honestly,

Maggie  23:15

Exactly. And then, so once I finally joined the group, I was getting help with just identifying, like, Okay, this is a normal portion. I think portion signs were also really hard for me. Because with macro counting, I always just had a big appetite. I feel like, just being a runner and a gymnast thing always likes to eat a lot. And so when I was counting macros, I would always try to eat a really big meal, so that I wouldn’t feel hungry for snacks in between my meals.Because if I would snack, then I felt like I just couldn’t stop sometimes. 

Maggie  23:54

So then going back into period recovery, and getting help from you figuring out what’s  a normal portion size. And during Recovery or eating more. So it’s probably a little bit bigger portion than what you’re used to. But now I feel like I understand, like, oh, okay, this is what a normal person will eat for lunch. As opposed to trying to dump themselves, but they don’t get hungry until like, six hours later.

Lindsey Lusson  24:19

For sure, I was talking on my Instagram Stories this morning about women who are struggling with. HA. How out of touch they are with what’s a normal amount of food, or what a proper portion is. And I think that that’s really eye opening for a lot of women in our program is to even see like, hey, like, this is the portion that you should be having at a meal. And people are like, flabbergasted by it. Do you feel like before you joined the program, you thought that you were on the right track with nutrition. Or were you like joining because you knew that you weren’t eating enough? 

Maggie  24:50

Oh, that’s a good question. So I felt like I knew how much food I needed to eat, because I had that the macro 2500 number in my mind. But  I didn’t realize that just eating tons of fruits and vegetables was not going to get me there. Like I used to eat farms and peanut butter and ice cream and pizza and different foods that were just more calorically done. So you can eat them and feel as bloated and full, while you’re trying to eat a little bit more than what is normal. But then also, just opening up my mind to eating these foods that I didn’t really allow myself to have any food before. 

Maggie  25:37

That was huge too, because I think now looking back and  that’s the even bigger piece than the whole fertility part. Like, that was initially my goal, obviously, to to get pregnant, but the whole food freedom thing, I kind of thought it was, slow at first. But now I’ve realized, that’s so much more important. Because I can go out for a meal and not have a drink right now, but in a couple of months and not felel bad about it. Not even think twice about, like, oh, how many calories are in that burger or something like that.

Lindsey Lusson  26:08

Yeah, definitely. I know. I do think that people don’t fully recognize how limiting or disordered the way that they approach feeding, the way that they’re eating is. But three kids in now, I will tell you that when you are feeding your children… A. they will watch what you’re doing, and if you say one thing but do something different, they will pick up on that really fast. And there’s just a lot of day to day instances where you’re going to be faced with cupcakes and goldfish and pizza… 

Lindsey Lusson  26:40

If you’re not okay with eating those foods, you will be challenged every single day for the rest of your life with kids. It can feel safe and healthy and just what you’ve always done when it’s just you, and maybe your sweet, loving partner adapts to that. And that works for you and your marriage. I can promise you that is going to be really different when you have kids. 

Lindsey Lusson  26:59

So, yeah, I think that being able to really explore and heal the relationship with food is is paramount. And so for somebody who identifies with your background of the macro counting, and I can’t think about food without calculations and grams and all of that, how did you shift? What advice would you give if somebody’s finding themselves really stuck there?

Maggie  27:22

Um, I think it just takes a lot of time and getting used to this whole different mindset. I think A. delete all of your macrocounting apps… That was huge. Just deleting them off on my phone was scary enough in its own. But then also just getting into, a repetition of, I’m going to make my breakfast every day. I’m going to make my lunch, I’m not going to count or think about how many calories are in there. It just takes a long time of getting used to that. 

Maggie  27:56

I think it’s really just  I guess you’d call  exposure therapy. You just keep doing that until you feel like you’re kind of used to it. Now, when I make lunch or breakfast, whatever I’m having, I don’t think about those things. I do like to eat relatively healthy because I feel my best when I’m fueling my body with good foods. But whether it’s half of an avocado or whatever I feel like having is what I think is most healthy for me. Because obviously, that’s what my body’s craving.

Maggie  28:28

It needs it for a reason. So I think that was the biggest thing for me, is just over time, just trying to get used to that not counting and tracking everything. And it’s so, so hard because I remember this coming up on one of the support calls, whenyou have, a drug addiction, or alcohol addiction, you cut it out completely from your life. And obviously that’s really hard to do too. But for all of us that have eating disorders, we still have to eat at least 345, times a day. So we have to figure out a way to handle that fear that we have, while still making sure that we’re feeding our bodies appropriately. 

Lindsey Lusson  29:12

Yeah, for sure, it’s it’s definitely complex, But the work that you put in really paid off, because you got your period back in just six weeks. What did that feel like?

Maggie  29:21

It was amazing. I remember going into the program just being so nervous. I was like, what if this doesn’t work for me? What if I  gain weight and… It’s tough to go through it mentally. It’s really hard to go through period recovery. So I was very anxious about it. But within a couple of weeks, I started seeing some fertile signs return. I remember getting cervical mucus for about a week ago or a week leading up to ovulation. 

Maggie  29:51

And I just remember being so, so excited every time I would see it. It sounds so weird. And then ultimately actually getting my period was such a big relief. Because I was like, Wow, this did end up working for me. And then six weeks into the program, but well before then, I had already decided that I don’t want to go the fertility route or the fertility drug route. I want to do this naturally. So getting my period back was finally what I needed to know that I could get pregnant on my own and do it all naturally. 

Lindsey Lusson  30:27

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I wonder too, if that buy in helped in your embracing the recovery thing of, like, No, I’m gonna get my period back and I’m not gonna do fertility treatment. Versus, I think some people kind of take the route of being like, Oh, well, I’ll try this out, I’ll dip my toes in and then I’ll just go do fertility treatment if it doesn’t work. You know what I mean?  I wonder if how invested you were with, like, No, this is what I’m going to do played into that shorter recovery time. 

Lindsey Lusson  30:54

But, yeah, man, six weeks, that’s so amazing. I love whenever people have those faster recovery times. And I do think that that’s realistic. Just depending upon the person, what they’re putting in and where they’re starting out. And you were obviously starting at a place where you were really motivated, and just we just needed to tweak some things. You just needed that extra support and somebody to really spell it out for you, so that you weren’t eating 300 calories of grapes and thinking that that was the extra push that your body needed..

Lindsey Lusson  31:20

We kind of went back and forth on whether or not we’re going to get into this question, but we’re just going to go for it. So once you got your period back, do you feel like that made you really confident that you could get pregnant? Or did you have more  mental hurdles you had to overcome? And what did your time to conceive kind of journey look like? 

Maggie  31:38

Yeah. I think I was still anxious coming out of period recovery. Because all this time I had been working on getting my period back, I wasn’t sure that if once I got it back, would I have other fertility issues. That was also something that was just kind of in the back of my mind. But again, something that I would never know and it would never be able to control. So I knew I had the tools that I needed to be able to get pregnant. 

Maggie  32:05

Just understanding my cycle better and also having the support from all of the other ladies in the program with me. Even after the program ended, I keep in touch with quite a few of them still. So supporting each other, trying to get pregnant, and then, actually, once we all did get pregnant, it’s been really amazing to be there for everyone’s ups and downs. 

Maggie  32:27

But yeah, going back to the timeline. So I I got my period back in December for the very first time. My husband and I decided to wait a few months to start trying, just because of when my brother’s wedding was timed in October. So then we started trying officially in March. And I did get pregnant, but it unfortunately ended in a chemical pregnancy. That was obviously really disappointing. 

Maggie  32:52

But I were also thinking like, Okay, well, my body can do this. And that was like a big light bulb moment for me too. Because I was like, okay, at least there’s not another big underlying problem that I can’t get pregnant. And then, fortunately, the next angle I did end up getting pregnant. So that’s our baby boy that we are expecting in a few months.

Lindsey Lusson  33:17

That’s so exciting. I think the first time that I got pregnant, I was almost in disbelief.  I remember being on a second it was actually positive. And I remember being like it’s kind of one thing to get your period back. You’re kind of like, over the moon about that. I think sometimes we all have that doubt that creeps in the what if? What if there’s something going on with my partner? What if there’s a structural thing? You think about all the people that you know that have unexplained infertility. You kind of just start to get in your own head. But what it from what I’m hearing from your story is it was like each month that went on, even with a loss, there was even more hope for the future that your body could do it.

Maggie  33:56

Yeah, exactly. And I mean, all in all, we really were only able to try for two months and then got pregnant on the second try. So I would say that I was very blessed that it was as easy for us as it did end up being. But there’s just always that in the back of your mind, is there something else that’s going on? I think everyone that, regardless of if they have HA , if you’re just trying to get pregnant, you’re probably going to have some thoughts and curiosity and nerves around you know… is there something else going on that I don’t know about and won’t know about? Until I start trying to get pregnant.

Lindsey Lusson  34:30

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think that those are kind of natural fears. And luckily for you, there wasn’t anything else to overcome. And so yeah, now being able to take a step back and reflect on all of this, what would you say to somebody who’s listening and thinking like you were in August, September of 2023, I know what I need to do. I just need to white knuckle this. I just need to keep going, I just need to eat 300 calories more of grapes. What would you say to somebody who’s stuck in that place? Because I know that’s where a lot of our listeners are right now.

Maggie  35:06

I would say grapes are not going to get you there. But I would also say I think I needed to try the period recovery on my own, and to talk to a fertility specialist initially. Just to really rule out that I wouldn’t do it on my own and that I needed to make a lifestyle change in order for me to ever get pregnant. So we say, make sure, or explore all of the options that you have. But at the end of the day, I think I mentioned this before, my number one goal was always fertility. 

Maggie  35:42

But I didn’t realize at that time that the food freedom piece is so much more and very impactful on my life in other ways. And I think if I had trying period recovery on my own, even if I did manage to white knuckle and get through it, or if I did the fertility treatments, there’s no way that I would have gained the food freedom that I did from doing this program. And that’s opened up my eyes so much, because it truly wasn’t like a good way to live what I was doing before restricting food. So much so I would just tell people to reconsider the idea that the food freedom might be might end up actually being more impactful than the fertility piece.

Lindsey Lusson  36:28

Yeah, yeah. I love that you said that, I feel like it gets missed. I feel like, though with the clients that we work with, is kind of like this hidden surprise on the pathway to restoring their fertility. But it’s usually not something that’s front and center. So thanks for sharing that experience and calling that out. 

Lindsey Lusson  36:43

Maggie, what are you most looking forward to about becoming a mom, labor and delivery experience, holding your baby? Sharing meals with your baby, going on vacations? Like, when you think about spring and summer of 2025 what makes you most fired up and excited? 

Maggie  36:58

Oh gosh, I’m so excited just for all of it. I mean, I don’t know exactly what to expect, but I’m excited to see and meet this baby for the first time. I feel like he’s been inside me for such a long time, and it’s just so much anticipation and build up to finally get to meet him in real life. So I’m excited for that. And then, yeah, we have a couple of trips planned already, so fingers crossed that those go well for us. And then just reallygetting to do all of the mom growing up things. I want to take him to the zoos and museums. I don’t know, just toil him basically all the time. So, yeah, oh, it’s all

Lindsey Lusson  37:40

Oh, it’s all so fun. It’s also fun. It’s such a magical experience. And there’s so so so much fun things coming your way. Thanks for being here today and sharing your story. We really appreciate your time. 

Maggie  37:51

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. 

Connect with Lindsey Lusson: 

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