CONGRATS, MAGGIE! 

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for over a year and have had a rough go of it. I have Hashimoto’s (a thyroid autoimmune disease) and PCOS, so trying to conceive and losing weight are extra challenging. I was in a pretty serious funk after two miscarriages in a row. I knew I wanted and needed to do everything I could to be sure my body was in the best shape it could be as we continued to try to have a baby. I had tried CSE recipes before and follow CSE social media pages, so I decided to give this challenge a try. The biggest transformation that I noticed immediately was that the challenge lifted me out of my deep funk. Having something to focus on and devote serious time and energy to helped me take my focus off my infertility struggles and forced me to focus on simply taking care of my body; it gave me something to get excited about.

Another major change I experienced was an improvement in my glucose and insulin levels. I happened to have labs drawn a few weeks before the challenge and had to have them drawn again during week 5 of the challenge. Without any changes to medications, both my glucose and insulin numbers improved significantly (which is a big deal with PCOS). My energy levels have improved greatly as well!!

In the last few weeks of the challenge, I have noticed that I actually want to stay on the bike or elliptical longer; whereas at the beginning of the challenge, I was counting down the seconds until I could be done.

While I was really hoping that I would get to announce a pregnancy as part of the challenge story, that didn’t happen. I am still working toward that goal and desire. But, I know that I am continuing this fertility journey in the best shape I have been in a LONG time. I have the habits and confidence to continue making the best choices for my health and know that I am preparing my body to be the best mom I can be for whenever a baby will join our family.

Even though I probably didn’t lose the most weight of any participant, I feel like the immeasurable changes in my lifestyle and mental health carry so much more significance and importance to me. I am so glad I decided to join the challenge and stuck with it.