In the final episode of this 3-part hormone mini-series, I bring it all together with a powerful, practical roadmap for healing your hormones—without the all-or-nothing pressure. From stabilizing blood sugar and managing stress to gut health, movement, and mindset, I walk you through the core strategies I use with clients to help them get back into hormonal harmony. If you’re overwhelmed by where to start or tired of feeling like your body is working against you, this episode will empower you to support your body instead of fighting it.
In this episode, I cover:
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Start with ONE small change—then build from there
✔️ Protein is your anchor
✔️ Stress isn't just mental—it's hormonal too
✔️ Movement should nourish, not deplete
✔️ Gut health is essential for estrogen balance
✔️ Supplements are only as helpful as the habits you build around them
Whether you have PCOS or your hormones just feel “off,” this episode is a compassionate, clear guide to getting your body back in sync—without the shame, the extremes, or the overwhelm.
🌿 Mentioned in the Episode:
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Please share it with a friend, leave a review, or message me on Instagram @Healthy_EverAfter15. Every woman deserves to understand her body—and feel empowered in it.
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(0:02 - 0:14) Welcome to PCOS Unfiltered, Nourish, Heal, Thrive. The place where real talk meets real healing. I'm Lindsie, health coach, nurse, mindful eating advocate, and fellow health warrior.
(0:14 - 0:24) Each week we're diving deep into the truth about PCOS. From nutrition and mindful habits to emotional healing and everything in between. All without the filters, the fads, or the shame.
(0:24 - 0:49) If you're ready to nourish your body, heal from the inside out, and finally thrive, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Welcome to this final episode of my hormone mini-series here on PCOS Unfiltered.
(0:50 - 1:01) Today we are moving into my favorite part, and that is healing. So if you've listened to the last two episodes, you know that your hormones aren't trying to ruin your life. They're probably just out of sync.
(1:01 - 1:17) And healing isn't about controlling your body, it's about supporting it so that it can come back into a beautiful balance. Today I'm sharing the core strategies that I teach my clients. The practical, realistic things that help bring your hormones back into harmony.
(1:18 - 1:36) And whether you have PCOS or you're just feeling off, these are definitely things that anybody could benefit from. So if I could give you one place to start, then it's here with blood sugar stability. Yes, it's like I keep saying it over and over again.
(1:37 - 1:47) Insulin resistance, blood sugar. And why is that? Because unstable blood sugar can spike your insulin. High insulin triggers high testosterone.
(1:47 - 2:04) I'm pausing for a second to see if you've caught on from the last episodes. And it can also trigger low progesterone as well as inflammation. So this is ground zero for PCOS and most hormonal imbalances, actually.
(2:06 - 2:18) Again, if you'd like more insulin resistance info, definitely check out my episodes one, two, and three. They were the first ones when I launched my podcast. And I go into this topic more in depth.
(2:19 - 2:29) But here's how to stabilize blood sugar. A few things to keep in mind. Eat protein with every meal and snack.
(2:29 - 2:38) Protein is your anchor. I say this about so many things. That can seem very daunting at first. (2:38 - 2:48) It could actually cause you maybe more stress. You're like, I don't know how I'm going to get protein at every meal and snack. So I'm going to talk about these and kind of how to tackle this as well.
(2:50 - 3:11) Another thing you can do to stabilize blood sugar is pairing carbs, meaning more veggies and fruit, carbs with fiber and fat. So you're going to get the fiber basically from a lot of veggies, also depending on how you're preparing them. But you will also get the fiber from fruit.
(3:11 - 3:20) And then fat as well. Again, that's good, healthy fats. And what does this do? It slows down how quickly the sugar hits your bloodstream.
(3:21 - 3:30) Other thing is do not skip meals. So skipping meals leads to crashes, which leads to cravings, which leads to overeating later. Oh, my gosh, I was so guilty of this back in the day. (3:30 - 3:35) And then I got hangry. I got shaky. I got hangry.
(3:35 - 3:41) Yeah, so big one, don't skip meals. The other thing is to watch for caffeine. Watch the caffeine.
(3:42 - 3:53) Coffee on an empty stomach can spike your cortisol, which spikes your blood sugar. So let's talk about how to approach this. This is not about perfection.
(3:53 - 4:08) It's really about consistency and just small shifts that add up over time. So start by picking just one change. For example, maybe you want to just add a high-quality protein into breakfast every day.
(4:08 - 4:18) And so when I say about one change, it may not even be for the day. It might just be focusing on one meal. So maybe you realize you're not getting enough protein at all of your meals.
(4:19 - 4:38) So just pick one meal. I would say breakfast would probably be my favorite place to start, but whatever works for you. And once you, say, commit to adding in that high-quality protein to breakfast, you say you're going to do it every day, give yourself some grace.
(4:38 - 4:45) Give yourself some love. Focus on just this one habit for a couple weeks, maybe even more. Could be a month, maybe.
(4:46 - 5:04) And then once you feel that you've formed this habit, then work on implementing the next change, like maybe having your coffee after breakfast instead of on an empty stomach before breakfast. Again, once you feel confident in that habit, maybe two weeks, maybe six weeks. It's completely up to you.
(5:04 - 5:30) Then you can move on to something else as well. The other thing is, too, in giving yourself some grace there and just focusing on consistency is, yes, you want to say every day that you're going to do this, but maybe take it by week. So maybe five days a week you're able to meet that change or make that habit change.
(5:32 - 5:57) And, you know, again, do that for a couple weeks until you feel comfortable with it. But you can get into that all-or-nothing mentality when you say you're going to do something every day, and then you miss a day, and then you fall off the wagon, and you say, you know what? This just isn't for me. So, yeah, maybe even think about saying, instead of saying you're going to make this change every day, maybe think about it as I'm going to do this five days a week.
(5:57 - 6:28) And maybe before you make the next change, you work up to seven days a week. So it's really completely, you know, based on your schedule, how you feel, how mentally prepared you are to make the changes as well before really tackling any of those things. So next one, chronic stress keeps cortisol high, and high cortisol messes with insulin, thyroid, and reproductive hormones, and you can't heal if your body thinks you're constantly running from a bear.
(6:28 - 7:01) This was like, I think, a big aha for me when I just started learning more about everything and really diving into my health journey and how I coach my clients as well, is that you can't heal. You can't release weight if your body does not feel safe to do so. So what helps with this? Breath work, I've talked about that on other podcasts.
(7:01 - 7:10) Literally, five deep breaths can calm your nervous system. And again, this is something that you can work up to. I do like to tell you to associate it with eating.
(7:10 - 7:22) So like, take a minute before you eat to just take five deep breaths. There's four, seven, eight breathing. There's the five, five, five breathing, you know, box breathing, whatever works for you.
(7:22 - 7:39) Or just take some nice, big, deep inhales and nice, big, forceful exhales. That's fine too, because either way, you're going to help calm your nervous system. Walking, walking in nature, especially like first thing in the morning if you can, or maybe at the end of the day.
(7:39 - 7:53) But just being outside, being with nature. If you can, take off the headphones, you know, put your phone away, or at least carry it with you for safety. But not looking at it during that time.
(7:53 - 8:04) And this could be anywhere from five minutes of a walk to, you know, 30 minutes. It's completely up to you. There's still a lot of benefits, even if it's just for a few minutes of time.
(8:05 - 8:15) Also creating boundaries around work and social media and toxic relationships. Yes, that's a big one. And a few of those might be hard, really hard for you to do.
(8:17 - 8:37) I think one of the probably easiest ones that you can control, I should say easiest in the fact that you can control it more, might be boundaries around social media. It can get, you can easily get into, you know, scrolling on Facebook and looking through reels on Instagram nonstop. And then next thing you know, 30 minutes has gone by.
(8:38 - 8:55) And that could have been the 30 minutes that you could have gone for a walk. That could have been more beneficial. But on top of that, just the negativity that can be seen in some of those social media platforms as well that can stress you out, even subconsciously, you may not even really realize that it's happening.
(8:56 - 10:10) So maybe that means taking some of those social media apps off of your phone and only putting them on your computer, you know, looking at them on your computer, setting specific times for you to, to go onto social media, you know, maybe even just doing like a social media detox for a weekend or a day or something like that. But yeah, setting those boundaries and then also saying, no, this was another big one for me that I had to learn. I wanted to say yes to everything and do it all. But yeah, you have to learn to say no without the guilt. Your nervous system deserves as much attention as your nutrition. Stress is such a big, a big player in this. Yes. I do talk a lot about nutrition, but, but stress is, is a huge component of all of this. Exercise, exercise is crucial. And I really, honestly to, I don't really like exercise the term exercise much anymore. I like to say it because you probably know more what I'm talking about, but I like to say more movement. You need that to support your hormones and not stress them out more.
(10:11 - 10:34) If you are burned out, fatigued, or dealing with cortisol issues, then definitely those high intensity workouts and long cardio sessions are not going to serve you. But also as I tell many of my clients, the best workout you can do is the one that you will do. So while for me, I've been a runner for quite some time.
(10:35 - 10:49) And I know that there are some times where I probably shouldn't be running as much as I do, but mentally that is my stress relief. Sometimes going for a walk just doesn't do it. So yeah.
(10:49 - 11:13) So the best thing you can do is what you enjoy, but strength training is definitely a good one. Helps you build muscle, helps balance insulin, walking, supports your metabolism, supports digestion, reduces stress. And then of course, yoga and Pilates, the nervous system, it nourishes the nervous system and your core strength as well.
(11:14 - 11:43) So also remember, and this is why I don't like the term exercise, because if you go for an hour, even 30 minutes, whatever, of exercise for your day, that is not your excuse to binge watch your favorite shows the rest of the day. And that's why I say I like the term movement. Also if it's a weekday and you're working, and a lot of us do work from desks nowadays, that's the reality of it.
(11:43 - 12:12) So yeah, maybe you started your day with your workout, but then you sat behind the computer the rest of the day. Is that workout really serving you is the question I would ask. And thinking of that, yeah, you may not be able to get away from your desk for longer periods, but can you at least stand? Can you at least just roll your shoulders back and stretch, open up your chest in some way, even just stretch your arms above your head, whatever it is.
(12:12 - 12:23) That's still great. That's still moving your body if that's the best you can do. So keep in mind, movement should leave you feeling better and just not depleted.
(12:23 - 12:41) So that's where, again, I want to stress those high intensity interval training workouts, long cardio workouts. If you're starting to feel more tired after doing those, then definitely reevaluate the movement that you're doing. Gut health.
(12:41 - 13:06) So your gut is where you eliminate excess hormones, especially estrogen and a sluggish gut can recirculate old hormones, making symptoms even worse. So how can we support our gut? Plenty of fiber from veggies primarily could even be like seeds and nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, beans, hydration, hydration, hydration. This is a huge one.
(13:07 - 13:39) Water helps move waste out six to eight, eight ounce glasses a day is kind of the standard. I also say go by how you're feeling, but also know like if it's a summer, for example, and hotter outside, especially if you live in more hot, humid climates, you're naturally going to be losing water just by walking outside and doing some, some things that you may not even be thinking about. So you might need to up that, but also go by how you feel and how thirsty you are.
(13:39 - 14:03) The other way you can support your gut is with fermented foods or probiotics, fermented foods like kimchi, for example, if sometimes you may not be able to tolerate those. And if you, if you're, if those are causing some type of stomach upset, then definitely cut those out. And you might need to go see a specialist because you might have something else going on in your gut.
(14:04 - 14:22) And then also reducing a processed inflammatory foods. So anything that comes in a package, anything with more than five ingredients, especially if it's ingredients that you can't pronounce, then definitely I need to take a look at those. Yes, it can seem hard to give those up all at once.
(14:23 - 14:31) So pick one thing, pick one meal, pick one food to just start with. You don't need a fancy detox. Your body detoxes every day.
(14:32 - 14:50) I mean, every day you're, you're detoxing, you know, now whether it's through your armpits, which I've talked about before, or when you go to the bathroom and you just need to support this process. Supplements. I kind of have a love, hate relationship with supplements.
(14:50 - 15:12) The one thing I would like the one I would probably say would be a lot more beneficial is Omega Omega threes, you know, fish oil. I think for some other ones, I definitely would say, make sure you're in communication with your practitioner. If you need to have any, you know, type of testing done, but here's the thing with supplements.
(15:12 - 15:40) You have to think, what are you supplementing? Are you supplementing bad habits? Are you supplementing poor nutrition? Because until that other stuff is worked out, I don't see where supplements serve a purpose. If you, you know, are still doing all your other stuff and you, you want to just take a supplement because you think that's going to help. You're not really getting to the root of what is going on by not making those other changes along the way.
(15:41 - 16:02) So just something to think about there, but always work with a provider who understands, you know, hormones, not all supplements are right for everyone. So again, that's why I don't want to get too in depth with those, but also build that foundation and cover your bases with all those other things that I talked about. Wrapping this up.
(16:02 - 16:08) Healing is not linear and some days you will feel amazing. Others. Maybe not so much.
(16:08 - 16:14) So the goal is not perfection. It's progress. Just know that your hormones want to work with you.
(16:14 - 16:29) And when you support them with nourishment, rest movement, compassion, they will respond. Thank you for spending this time with me. And if this series, if this episode and the complete series resonated with you, then please be sure to share it with a friend or leave a review.
(16:31 - 16:41) It would mean the world to me. Every woman deserves to understand her body, her hormones, and her power to heal. So until next time, nourish, heal, and thrive.
(16:42 - 16:52) Thanks for tuning in to another episode of PCOS unfiltered. If today's episode spoke to you, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing. And if you loved it, a quick review would mean the world to me.
(16:52 - 17:03) Remember, healing is a journey, not a destination. And you deserve to feel empowered every step of the way. Until next time, nourish your body, heal your heart, and thrive like the boss you are.