Interview with SYNC Course Member Amy Yonkman

Jenny Swisher 0:05
Welcome to the SYNC Your Life Podcast. I’m your host, Jenny Swisher, certified personal trainer, nutritionist hormone health expert and girl mom, I believe all women should be able to understand how our bodies are designed to feel. And I teach you how to sync your lifestyle to your cycle to reach maximum energy. You deserve to feel your best and this podcast is going to teach you how. Let’s dive in!

This podcast is sponsored by the SYNC Digital Course, to take the free hormone imbalance quiz to see what your symptoms could mean about your health. Visit sync.jennyswisher.com that SYNC s-y-n-c dot Jenny swisher.com.

Okay, welcome everyone to this episode of the SYNC Your Life Podcast. I am thrilled to have my friend Amy Yonkman with me today. Amy and I met through the social media waves a few years ago, and I’ve been so grateful to have her in the Sync Digital Course. You guys know that we are spending this entire month diving deep into these sorts of live coaching calls where I’m able to bring clients from the course forward people who are willing to step up and say, Hey, I’d love to share my experience. And Amy was one of the women who raised her hand and said yes, I’d love to share. So I’m so grateful that she’s taking the time. I know she’s a very busy mom. So she’s taking the time out of her day today to hop on here. And so allow me to ask her questions, to share her story and to really shed insight for any woman who’s listening who might feel like she is in Amy’s shoes or where Amy was. So Amy, welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about yourself and help us get to know you.

Amy 1:51
Thank you for having me, Jenny and allowing me to share my story. I am a mom to three wonderful kids. We have a 10, an 8 and a 3 1/2 year old currently living in Noblesville. I am a stay at home mom trying to figure out in my midlife what my next step will be career wise, but right now just enjoying being the mom that can pick them up from school and take them to all the appointments. Yeah, they’re busy, especially as you know, with small toddlers.

Jenny Swisher 2:24
Oh, yes, I’m aware. And one of the things that Amy and I have bonded over is the fact that we have children who don’t go to the same school, but they go to the same concept of school, which is a nature based preschool program. So we’ve been able to connect over that and I know I’ve reached out to her for some help and insight as it pertains to me investigating you know the next step of school for my child because she’s she’s very knowledgeable and connected in that area. So that’s another piece that we’ve we’ve bonded over not just fitness. I know we’re both into fitness, but also nature and getting out in nature. I’d love to do podcasts on that in the future too. So okay, so tell us a little bit about like, we’ll kind of get into like what brought you to the SYNC Course. But tell us when you last before the SYNC Course, when did you last feel good or feel yourself? And what changed? Like when did that change?

Unknown Speaker 3:09
Probably about four years ago, I was in the middle of almost completing 80 Day obsession. And I was one of the lucky ones like many of the people that were doing it the first round, we all got pregnant with our pineapple babies, which I was 41 going on 42 So that was not part of our plan. But so 80 Day obsession made me feel strong. I was on track with nutrition. And I just assumed after I had our daughter Laurel like the other two pregnancies, my weight just sort of slowly came off. And I thought I would just like get back to pre pregnancy weights. And that did not happen. I gave myself about a year. But I was doing every extreme workout known demand. I was watching him out. I was eating extreme fatigue periods started being very irregular. And I’ve been regular since I started having them at like age 11. So I started trying to look into is this hormone related? Is it because I had a pregnancy you know, later on in my 40s and going to doctors, they were all looking at my numbers, you’re fine, you’re in the normal range. We don’t see anything wrong. And we thought maybe it had something to do with maybe me being pre diabetic. I had two gestational diabetes pregnancies. My general practitioner was just like maybe we should look into your nutrition more and I’m like I’m pretty on track with how to measure carbs and do all of that. So I was like, I don’t know if a nutritionist is going to help. And she was like, well your your levels are almost to where you could be diabetic if we don’t try to get your weight off. And then everyone started mentioning about you know, functional health and I was like there’s no way I can afford that like I’m a stay at home mom We are living on one income. And then more and more my friends started going there. And they had results and doing more research. It wasn’t as cost crazy as I had originally planned. And I thought for my health and happiness, I have to take care of myself if I’m taking care of these kids. So my husband was like, go ahead and make the appointments. And that was a life changer. And I know, I remember just being there frustrated, beating myself up, like, why am I not losing weight, very uncomfortable. In my own skin, I felt like I was just me stuck in like a fat suit. My self esteem went down, I didn’t want to go out anymore. None of my clothes fit. And that was not what I was used to. Since I’ve been doing, you know, fitness for seven years now. I just was like, I need to do something. So when you started mentioning the course and you’re like, are you extreme fatigue, bloated, you can’t lose weight. And I was like, every box was checked. And I’m like, that has to be me. So you were a lifesaver?

Jenny Swisher 6:03
Yeah, I’m glad our paths crossed. And it’s interesting to me, you know, I think that this concept of functional medicine is slowly seeping into the minds of a lot of people, right? I, I need to look up the official statistic. But I know that it’s considerable difference, the people that are kind of making a move toward more holistic medicine as opposed to modern medicine. It’s a very common story. You know, this is the third interview that I’ve done with clients from the course. And every single woman so far has had the same experience with their previous general practitioner or OBGYN when they when they walk into the office, and they say I’m not feeling right, I feel off. And the doctor says, Well, I’m not sure like it, maybe it’s just age, or maybe it’s just you know, I don’t know, but your your blood work numbers are normal. And so you know, I like to say it and I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, like I think it’s not okay to accept that as an answer, right, like, you know, when your body feels off. But it could be a journey in itself to find someone who will listen and someone who’s knowledgeable and someone who can help you kind of get to the root of what’s going on. So I kind of want to just touch on one thing that you said, because this is an important thing to note. When you said you were in the pre diabetic ranges. Were you hypoglycemic? Like were you dealing with low blood sugar issues? Or was your blood sugar high? blood sugar’s

Amy 7:17
were high, I’m trying to look back at some of my notes, when I first met with my doctor, if I had high insulin numbers are really high, like cortisol numbers, which I know is completely different. But I liked that this nurse practitioner took the effect of I want to be proactive, my mom, dad are diabetic. I mean, everyone in my family, some type of diabetes, and she was like, why don’t we start trying to get you to lose weights use supplements, and she was like, we’re probably gonna have to use some kind of medication. So I was like, Well, I’ve tried for, you know, two years and nothing is working. So I’m glad she was like proactive. She wasn’t like, Oh, you’re not fully diabetic yet. We’ll just see what happens. She was like we need to get get you in some regular range numbers so that you can start feeling better again.

Jenny Swisher 8:05
Yeah. And that’s the beauty of like, I love that when like when modern medicine meets functional wellness, right, like, let’s get you let’s get something going here to get you feeling better as we work toward a long term solution. So I’m interested in that because the one thing that I see most often with women in the course is it almost always comes back to blood sugar or cortisol or both. Right. And so I know that experts in the field Dr. Laura Briden, is one that I look up to she talks extensively about getting your blood sugar in regulation, like getting it so that it is sustained throughout the day, so that you’re not having highs and lows, and then also just overall stress. And sometimes I think people don’t realize that stress is not necessarily stress from your career or stress. Emotionally, it can also be exercise, right exercise can be a stressor on the body. And so it looks like you had both of those at play. So you you sort of came into the functional medicine world asking for help. And with that preliminary testing, you were able to find that your your blood sugar’s high, your cortisol is high, right? So we’re in fluctuation, and we’re also in a high stress mode, or our body is at least interpreting that you’re in a high stress mode. So tell me a little bit more so is that about the time that you came into the SYNC C`ourse is when you started seeing the functional medicine doctor?

Unknown Speaker 9:18
Yes, they sort of coincided right together. So I was like, Well, if I can take the SYNC Course learn things on my own so I actually could understand what the nurse practitioner was telling me so I was doing the the course while we were doing all the lab and blood workup and I just love how much she spent time with me like our first intake. Probably it was almost two hours long. She wanted to know everything I’m like, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me like way back into my childhood wanted to know like, all these generations of you know, people that are diabetic cancer, all of that so I’m just glad that she was like I’m gonna start from like square one and build up to how we can help you. She was like, I don’t care for hours like I will move all my, your my focus and I’m like, Oh, I’ve always been like rushed out like, hurry up, get out I have another client coming in. So

Jenny Swisher 10:11
yes, and I’m so glad you pointed that out I’ve had that exact same experience like I was in the same in your same shoes like I saw so many doctors for migraine and it felt like I had a 20 minute appointment. Right. And I usually had to wait extra long just for the doctor to come into the room, and then you feel like you’re rushed to tell them what’s going on. And to get out. I have the same exact experience. And I feel like every time I meet with my functional medicine doctor, they’re they’re not just willing to sit and listen and take the time. But also just, you know, they do look at you as a whole person. So they’re they’re not just you know, I remember my very first appointment, my doctor was talking to me about not just the headaches that I was experiencing, she was asking me about my sleep. She was asking about my nutrition, she was asking about my activity levels she was asking about, you know, there were so many different things that we touched on. But now knowing what I know now it made sense. Like she wanted to get a full picture of my lifestyle, right in order to better understand me. And I just think so many times like I think a lot of women are going to doctor’s appointments, and they’re feeling unheard. Or they’re feeling like it’s just a surface level like appointment. Right? So yes. Could it be covered on your insurance and be less expensive than a functional doctor? Yes. But could you also be wasting time if you’re not getting answers also? Yes. Right. So I don’t ever want this to be like, I’m not trying to say anything negative about anything, because I think it’s beautiful when both worlds can, like I said, when both worlds can combine and help people. But I just think that if we’re not asking enough questions and spending enough time with people to understand their life, how can we really help them? You know, so? Okay, so you came into the SYNC Course? What were the first things that sort of gave you a ha moments when you dove into the course? Like, what were some things that you learned right off the bat that you were like, wow, this is stuff that’s definitely I’m gonna apply this.

Amy 11:55
I mean, probably just the information about hormones. Like I’ve never really researched what they are what they meant. I wish I just talked to a friend the other day, and she was like, Why don’t they start at like age 10 with girls in some kind of like health education class talking about, you know, periods and what’s healthy, what’s not normal? So many of us went through, you know, crazy periods. And I mean, our doctors didn’t know, or we didn’t tell people because we’re embarrassed and then to explain menopause because all of us, I mean, I’m going to be 46. And may all my friends have all the same symptoms, and they’re like beating themselves up like, am I not working out hard enough? Should I be doing more cardio on top of, you know, like, you should probably look into functional health look into your hormones. And they’re like, No, I’ll go to my regular doctor. Well, she’s saying everything’s fine. I’m like, your doctors, probably amazing, but she doesn’t have the training that some of these doctors have, I think regular doctors what they spend like a semester or two on female health, and that’s right. Same

Jenny Swisher 13:02
in nutrition. Right. So yeah, I mean, I agree, I think I was joking with my husband. And like, I think in sex ed in middle school, we learned about like how to not get pregnant, like ways to prevent pregnancy, and how pregnancy happens. But there wasn’t a lot of education around the female body and what’s happening on a phase by phasef basis. Right? So you came into the course to start learning about hormones. So you felt probably more equipped to go into those appointments when you’re meeting with your doctor. So you know what you’re asking? What did what did the functional practitioner work with you on at that point? Did you start to do more testing? Did you start to look at did you take the guidance from the course and ask for that type of testing?

Unknown Speaker 13:39
I took the questions that you had in the course to my doctor and just, you know, read every single one and felt comfortable with all of her answers. She knew how to test me on like day 19, 20, 21 of my cycle, like none of my other doctors ever wondered, when was your period you need to come in at this point. They’re like, let’s just draw some blood today and see what happens. Right. So like, she was very knowledgeable. And she was like, she just tried to do baseline testing. But she was, you know, sort of thinking hormone wise. And she was very worried about blood sugars and my insulin and cortisol. So yeah, and then when she called me back, and I think that was another two hour conversation over the phone. And she just went through every single thing allowed me to ask questions. I was like, Maybe I’m not understanding what this means and just sort of gave me simple terminology that I could understand. And yeah, it was insane. It was just like a game changer. So while I was getting all those results, and I continued with the course and sleep and all of that I was a horrible sleepers since age 25 pretty much had insomnia and figuring out taking magnesium at night to get me to sleep better has been a game changer. That makes me to be a better mom than I had energy to work out and take care of myself. So it’s just it’s all like,

Jenny Swisher 15:05
the snowball. And it all was it was it sounds like it was all divine timing too, right? Like you, you had the the course with you to be able to walk through that experience. So that’s cool. So I’m guessing obviously sounds like they’ve worked with you primarily on sort of your stress and your cortisol and your blood sugar. Did they give you supplementation? Did they advise certain things like what was what was the protocol, if you don’t mind sharing some of that?

Unknown Speaker 15:25
Yes, she started me on what’s called FemGuard + Balanced to help because my hormones were, as she said, they’re on the toilet seat. They’re not fully in the toilet, but mine are like crazy low, like, Well, I’m glad I’m not in the toilet. So she’s like, we’re going to help you balance out your hormones to feel better. So I’m still on that. And then I’m on methyl care because I have this MTHFR gene mutation. And she was worried about me and blood clots and all of that I had two blood clots in my legs seven days after I gave birth to my third daughter. So that was fun, and was misdiagnosed by an emergency room. That often times my iron levels were really, really low. So I’m on reacted iron now. liquid vitamin D with K2 and then magnesium.

Jenny Swisher 16:18
Gotcha. So when your iron levels were low, was it your actual iron or your ferritin are both

Amy 16:25
trying to look at my notes from last night.

Jenny Swisher 16:28
The The reason I asked for the sake of the podcast is because this is common as well, especially for exercising females, I see it a lot where women who are strenuously exercising are oftentimes dealing with low ferritin. I’m in that category as well, technically, from a basic blood panel, but most doctors would prescribe everything looks good, because my iron stores were in normal ranges. But when I started to explain to my functional doctor how I was feeling and how I felt like I was shaking after workouts that I had never felt like that before. She was like, Okay, we need to dig a little deeper. So we did ferritin testing, which is bloodwork and my ferritin came back extremely low. There are a lot of what I would call period experts like female health experts that say you shouldn’t believe the below 65 With your ferritin. Mine was like in the 40s. So they were like you know, considering that you are having heavy cycles and that you’re you’re exercising regularly, we have to focus on the ferritin levels. So that’s why I asked just just out of curiosity, because you can’t have right your iron can also be low your ferritin as your iron stores. But sometimes the testing doesn’t go deep enough. So asking for that next level of testing of your iron stores, which is your ferritin can help you get to the bottom of that. And that’s as simple as it sounds like even for me in 2017 when I kind of re entered my hormone imbalance issues all over again, I started to notice the same thing again, where I just felt really fatigued all the time, especially after my workouts. And whereas before my exercise gave me energy, right. And so I was like something’s changing, like I’m not sure what it is. And so yes, there was a hormonal component with my progesterone and I and I don’t want to go into the details here. But I think the ferritin was a big, it played a big role. So once I started to really focus on that nutritionally and also supplementally, kick that to the curb, you start to get your energy back, right, something that’s simple. And I sometimes thinks in my mind, it makes me wonder like how many women experienced this from the perspective of maybe they start off with low energy, right. And so it starts off with this fatigue and this energy, but it moves into maybe anxiety and depression. And it kind of just keeps evolving to the point where they’re given pharmaceuticals like antidepressants or anti anxiety meds, when in reality, you know, having the awareness of of knowing what testing to ask for and to have the functional doctor in your corner that can keep digging deeper to get to the root cause of that, I think, I mean, I’m guessing that it’s extremely common and unfortunately Missmiss or under diagnosed. So okay, cool. So it sounds to me like you’ve got you’ve got a nice plan on board. So where are you now like now that you’ve been on that supplementation? You’ve been focusing on sort of correcting your you know, your blood sugar fluctuations and your your cortisol, how far have you come tell us where you are now,

Amy 19:12
weight wise, for the two years that my weight did not change at all. I was at 178 It was like Groundhog Day, every day didn’t matter if I you know sticking to my portion control containers working out. My cousin and I did 80 Day obsession together and she lost like 30 pounds because she just had a baby and I was like I haven’t lost one pound and that’s when I was like something’s wrong. So as of two weeks ago, I am down to 138. So 40 pounds gone. Last time I got I’m going to be getting my bloodwork done again in April. But last time she said all my numbers looked amazing and perfect. But one thing that she didn’t have to prescribe and I know we she did start me on Metformin Then, which I think is more like a sugar pill. I don’t think that helps anyone. But after a week, it was like tearing up my stomach. So I’ve been on ozempic for the last year and a half. And she said that probably after my April numbers, she’s like, it’s time to finally come off of that. Yeah. I’m a little scared to I’ve heard that, you know, your hunger comes back to folds. But if I have my nutrition in check and have a plan, hopefully we can keep that in check.

Jenny Swisher 20:29
Yeah, you’re you’re not the first woman that I know that has dealt with, you know, blood sugar fluctuation issues. And also and also PCOS, which is all tied to blood sugar. And Metformin can be a game changer kind of in that interim, right of getting your body regulated. But yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s kind of exciting to say, to think like, this helps me get to where I am, in addition to lifestyle and exercise and nutrition. And now my lifestyle is going to carry me forward, right? Like, I’m gonna be able to depart with this and keep the healthy habits and the 40 pounds is, you know, is a lot but I’m interested. I always like to tell people, I like to measure things in energy. So you know, from an energy perspective, because the weight loss is incredible. And I know you look amazing, I follow you on social media. And so I see your flexes and your your sweaty selfies and everything. And I know you’re feeling so confident in yourself. You said earlier, you felt like you just weren’t yourself. I think you said you felt like you were in a fat suit. Right? How do you feel now? Like the how is that energy? Was it worth it? Like was the journey worth it? Oh,

Unknown Speaker 21:27
my gosh, I mean, worth it two fold. I mean, to be self confident, like I’m going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding in May. And just, you know, I put on the dress that I’m wearing. And I’m like, I can walk down the aisle in confidence now, like, don’t look at me, I want to hide in the corner. I mean, in a group of we had the bridal shower over the weekend and all my friends that are trying to start their own journey. They’re not comfortable in their own skin. They would like throw me in the front of the picture. I’m like, Okay, well, I don’t mind being there. But I mean, just confidence to like walk up to people to be more outgoing energy and keep up with my three and a half year old who does not nap. My others napped until kindergarten so we play all day. We do playdates I love to volunteer at her school, but I used to the kid my goal was with the the two older children, they would eat lunch falls. And when they would take a nap from one to three. I would sleep as well. And my husband was always like, Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day and you’re getting eight hours asleep? So I don’t have to nap anymore. I’m just on the go all day long. And it’s and I don’t drink coffee. People think I’m insane. But I do like my pre workout for the for my workouts that. Yes, not to drink coffee or to live off like Coke or any kind of like, caffeinated beverage. To me. Yes. Outstanding.

Jenny Swisher 22:54
Yeah. Well, I thought we were best friends until you just said that about coffee. So now I’m not so sure. I’m kidding.

Amy 23:01
1Like, I can’t talk to you anymore. I’m like, I know. I can’t have one. But it’s like the real, you know, latte with yeah,

Jenny Swisher 23:08
great calories. And I was gonna be the treat, right? Yeah, I’m so nice. I don’t think about that drink them. That’s funny. I love coffee. But I honestly don’t like I don’t enjoy the caffeine boost, like I’m actually sensitive to caffeine. So I have to do decaf. But I actually just liked the taste like I really just like the experience of the coffee. So anyways, so I’ll accept you still as a friend. But I didn’t know that about

Amy 23:31
our friendships not.

Jenny Swisher 23:34
So one thing that I just wanted to like call out here. For those listening is, let’s just sort of take a moment to summarize this in a way that’s really powerful, right? Like if we think about how far she’s come. The one thing that I want people to hear is that she was initially told that her blood numbers and that everything was fine. And that what she was experiencing was normal, or it was abnormal, but nothing to investigate. But yet she was able to step out, I always like to say she became her own best advocate, right? She did. She said, No, I’m not willing to take that as an answer, I’m going to become my own best doctor, I’m going to find somebody to work with me, I’m going to get to the root of this. And thanks to t`he practitioners at an integrative medicine facility, she was able to get the right testing, therefore get the right supplementation for her right based on her own deficiencies and what her body needs. And then to really just start correcting that through a little bit of, you know, pharmaceutical, right, a little bit of modern medicine, but also with a lot of lifestyle changes, right, like using nutrition to fuel her body and to really drop the pounds right and to exercise in a way that’s conducive to your body as opposed to working against it. That’s what I want to talk about next. Because I know you said that you were really obviously doing like high intensity programs before all this but yet not seeing the weight drop and then all of a sudden, you shift so we’re going to talk about that next but I just wanted to make sure that people who are listening realize that girl, this is so common like it is so common, I bet you almost every woman who’s taken this course would say the same thing that they were told at one point or another that everything was normal, that there was no reason to worry, it was probably just a joke. It was probably just perimenopause, or whatever the case is. And the difference between Amy feeling amazing. And the woman who’s listening, feeling like she’s stuck and feeling like she’s not getting answers is the fact that Amy just decided to keep going. Right? She just decided that she wasn’t going to accept that as an answer. So if this speaks to you, I hope that you’re willing to consider functional medicine. You know, I mean, I’m sure Amy would say at this point, you know, she mentioned at the beginning, that she wasn’t sure what it was going to cost to work with a functional medicine doctor, right, like single income family. But yet, I’m sure now she would never change anything she’s done. Right? Am I right? In that, like, if so it’s totally worth the journey?

Unknown Speaker 25:55
Well, when I think of what money I’m putting into investing in my own health and happiness, and every mom needs to be healthy and happy for the kids, but if I would have become a full blown diabetic, if I had to have you know, glucose monitoring, maybe being put on insulin, I did not want to go down that route. So when people were like, Oh, it’s too expensive, oh, I can’t eat, you know, organic, or, you know, certain kinds of food. And I’m like, probably, if you took out all your fast food, and your Starbucks and everything, you have some extra money, but and I don’t think that my doctor bills were astronomical or my husband? And like, No, we’re not going there anymore. So yes, the best investment in my life, the best investment doing the SYNC Course. But I tell everyone, be a student of your own body do not take just an answer from a doctor, listen to that gut instinct, you know, figure out what’s going on, if you have to go to 10 doctors to find one to help, like, keep going.

Jenny Swisher 26:54
Yeah, for sure. And that’s that was the whole reason why I created the course, because I wanted I wanted women to I wanted to shorten my struggle, because my struggle was 16 years in the making, right? Like I sat through so many different doctor’s appointments, and so much wasted time, have tests that weren’t needed, and yet not getting the test that I did need. And so what I wanted to do is really consolidate it into one place so that women could come in and they could have a print off that they just took to the doctor, right? They could go in and get asked these questions they could ask for this testing. They could just kind of cut through all that and get right to some answers, right. And I would be lying if I said that, you know, some people come in, and they the very first functional doctor that they meet with is that they click and they everything works great. And they get their testing just like Amy’s experience. But there’s also some times where women still don’t feel like it’s the right fit, right. And so just finding that initial doctor can be, honestly, it can be the most strenuous part of the journey, like but once you find that person, my goal, of course, is just to walk alongside people like you. And to say, look, I’m not a doctor, but here’s what I would ask, right? Or I’m not a doctor, but these are the things that can really shorten your, your struggle, right? Like, these are the things that you should be considering. So when we were talking about, you know, four years ago, and how you were feeling post pregnancy, you were talking about how you of course, struggled to lose weight fatigue, but you also mentioned irregular cycles. Where are you experiencing just all over the place? Like some were short, some are long they went missing, like what happened exactly there? And then did they also, I’m assuming they also did some sex hormone testing on you as well.

Amy 28:25
Yes, the periods were all over the place. And I thought, like, Oh, I’m an older mom. And you know, my body’s just trying to get used to, you know, having a geriatric pregnancy, but I would be like, either having a period on day 21, or I could go a month and a half without a period. And they it was heavy bleeding, like, I never experienced that before. I mean, it was nothing that I could control, then cramping to two to three days before my period, I would be so like, almost in a coma. Like I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was falling asleep, like driving sometimes. Not like full sleep, but like nodding off it like a red light. And I’m like, something is not right here. And a lot of times, just take it as oh, we’re busy. We’re not getting sleep. And I knew that there was something very off with that, especially since I’ve been regular my whole life.

Jenny Swisher 29:19
Yeah. So then when they looked at your testing and everything they did, what did they do like initial blood work on just sex hormone numbers? And how did that look? Initially?

Unknown Speaker 29:28
Yes. From what I can read from my notes from a year and a half ago, she was like, the hormones were low to the point where she was like, we need to try to balance them out. I was thinking like, at least I would be like, dominant in one and low in another but she was saying that I was low on both sides. And like that’s interesting. And then hopefully the FemGuard has been, you know, balancing them out. And yeah, variants are now like always on track like, pretty much every day 28, 29 The heavy bleeding has gone away the cramps, sometimes I’m still a little tired from like a day before I start, but it’s not where I can’t keep my eyes open or functioning human being. And as a mom, you don’t have time to like, take a day off and lay on the couch and try to

Jenny Swisher 30:18
Right Yeah, well, and you know, I think it’s, I heard somebody say this, an expert in this in this hormone health world have always always refers to your cycles as being one of your vital signs as a female, right? Like, it’s just as important as your blood pressure is just as important as your oxygen level, like, what is your what is your cycle? And is it regular, right. And a lot of people think like, I know, myself included, I was always having 28 day cycles. And so I just assumed my period health, you know, my female health was normal, because I was having regular cycles until I started to dig a little bit deeper. And I started to try to track my ovulation right, like, I didn’t understand that just because I was having a regular bleed didn’t mean I was having regular ovulation. And ovulation, which is what happens in the middle of your cycle, right when the egg is actually there and presents and actually drops, right? That if that’s not happening, or if it’s happening irregularly, that’s an overall indicator of your health. And so what what I’m assuming, you know, is was probably at play for you, Amy, is, obviously, you know, when your body is in a state of fight or flight, so we know that your cortisol was high, we know that your stress response was high, we know that your blood sugar was kind of all over the place. And as we’ve talked about, on this podcast, before, you knew this concept of the four legged chair, which I teach in the course, when those start to get out of balance, the whole chair starts to wobble, right. And so what starts to happen is your body says, actually, we value your survival over your reproduction, right, so we’re gonna start to just her cycles are no longer a priority, our priority is now keeping her alive, keeping her blood sugar regulated, and keeping her you know, surviving. And so because of that, cycles get all wonky, right. And there’s also some other things at play there. As far as how your stress hormones factor into your sex hormone, your cortisol can steal from your sex hormones. And, and there’s a lot of things that are sort of interconnected there. So I’m assuming, you know, again, I’m not a doctor, but I’m assuming based on your story here, that by getting that blood sugar in check, and by getting your stress level down, your cortisol down, you know, here we’re starting to get those legs back and balanced. And when those two weak legs, which are were your weakest legs of the chair, when they start to get back in balance, the period gets back in balance, everything starts to get back in balance. So it’s powerful to know, you know, what is the weakest leg of my chair? What do I need to be addressing, whether it’s through supplementation, or lifestyle, or both, usually both. But I think that’s probably my guess, as to what’s going on for you. But if your hormones are low, like if your estrogen and progesterone are low, and they’re gonna, you know, let’s, you said that they were going to take you off of the Metformin, they’re going to let your lifestyle sort of carry you forward. If you start to experience irregularity in your cycles, again, I think it would be worth investigating and asking more questions about those low sex hormones to them. You know, you’re in your 40s. And so it’s you know, possibly bioidentical creams or supplementation in that realm might not be out of the question. So if you start to see, like, you know, you go off of the Metformin, and you’re like, I’m not feeling myself or your energy starts to dip again, I think that would be something worth asking about. But otherwise, I think you’re, you’re doing so well. And this is, this has obviously been a journey. You know, this is not like you started this yesterday, right? Like, this is the journey for everybody. And everybody’s on a different path. But I know that you mentioned, you know, like, and this is something that the women that I’ve interviewed before, and women who’ve taken the course constantly say, when they started to kind of sync their fitness to their cycle. And when I started to pay attention to those energy levels, when deciding how to train each day, how much more relieved they felt and how much more in alignment with their body they felt when I did that, and I know that you and I kind of had a pre conversation about just you’ve been allowing yourself the permission to go from that high intensity exercise four years ago, that wasn’t serving you to more of like a listen to your body basis, right and to when you’re on your period, like taking a couple of days off and letting your body rest. So can you tell us a little bit about that and what you’ve seen in that,

Amy 34:27
while taking the course I would have never put it together like Oh, my period and workouts should sort of be on the same type of schedule. So taking, you know, the day that I start and even the day after just having those two days of like rest because I never thought of like how much my body is working. And I used to get mad when I’d be like Why can I lift heavy? Why am I like, you know, going for lower weights and then you’d almost like beat myself up like why am I not being able to do like the high performance and I’m used to and I’m like it’s That’s my body is focused on some other things right now. So knowing you know what workouts do if I need to take a day off and do yoga, or I love the mobility and stability workouts in 645, those are my favorite, if I need to do that tired, but I want to still move my body that never would have linked that together like most women think like I need to train like a man and we’re not men.

Jenny Swisher 35:26
Absolutely. It’s I’m always impressed with the number of women who say, you know, I was I was skeptical about this concept, right? Because maybe they came from an exercise background and they’re like, you know, this is crazy. And then they follow it. And they’re like, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. Because now I’m working in alignment with my physiology instead of against it. I’m not just overtraining myself or pushing too hard. And I do want to make that. Sure that discrepancy because sometimes it’s not about overtraining, like, you know, you can be exercising 30 minutes a day for five days a week. And that is certainly not overtraining by by most standards could be for you, right could be for the individual. But a lot of times it’s about knowing what your hormones are doing at any given basis in your cycle and then working with them. So when your hormones are low, right, you’re you are most like a man, right? Men don’t have the the high fluctuation of hormone, they don’t have the the surges and the drops. So those are the times of your cycle to take advantage of strength training. And then when you do have high progesterone and you come out of ovulation, and you know that your body has ovulated, and you’ve got that sort of calm hormones settling in, it’s also a metabolism boosting hormone. That’s the time to take advantage of your high intensity training and your cardio training. But always above all else, listening to your body. It’s amazing how many women have said I felt permission. Like by doing this course. And by learning cycle syncing I gained permission to listen to my body first. Right? And it’s it makes sense to me because our society is a nine to five circadian rhythm society. But women are infraidian rhythm, right? Like we live by the moon, we live by the sun, we live on this different sort of schedule. And so everything in our society is catered to men, right. The workday is catered to men, the the exercise regimens that exist out there, and even things like intermittent fasting and stuff like that. Those are all based on male science. So when a woman who comes from an exercise background steps into this program, it doesn’t surprise me to hear her say like, oh, I finally felt permission to listen to my body and to rest when i It’s like they knew it, like deep down there was this innate sign or something telling them that, gosh, I’m tired today. But they were so used to doing what they did, and following that regimen that men follow, right? That they they it was, it was a struggle to kind of step out of it and try something different. So I love hearing that. I love hearing when people are gaining knowledge when they’re gaining confidence when they’re able to step into their doctor’s office feeling like they have a plan and feeling like they know what to ask and that they can have that conversation with their doctor. But I also really like it when it comes all the way full circle into. Okay, now we’ve got you on the proper supplementation, we’ve got you sleeping better we have you kind of in these regulated zones, now we can really put the icing on the cake and we can sync your fitness your cycle, we can start to get you in this rhythm and in this alignment with your nutrition and everything, so that you’re living with that energy, you know, and so I’m so glad that you took the time to talk with us today. Is there anything that I missed that you want to mention?

Amy 38:34
I don’t think so just once again, thank you for sharing your story and creating the class. I’m so glad I was already following following you on social media. And I mean, every single one of my friends, as I’ve mentioned it, a lot of them are scared to take that plunge, but I just keep sort of nicely being like, hey, why don’t you check this out? This might be something that you want to look into. So yeah, one word?

Jenny Swisher 39:00
Yeah. Well, if you’re listening to this today, and you feel like you can hear yourself and Amy’s story and that you need to take that next step. I’m happy to walk alongside you in that journey. Whether it’s through the course or a conversation, you can reach out to me, I’ll have everything linked up in the shownotes. As to that but thank you, Amy for being my friend, despite your coffee differences. Thank you for being such an integral member of the sync culture that we created in this awesome little community and for taking time today to meet with us. So we’ll talk again soon.

Amy 39:28
Thank you have a good day.

Jenny Swisher 39:30
You too. Bye bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the SYNC Your Life Podcast. Hope you found value from today’s episode. If you did, please share it out to your friends or leave a review. Remember your cycles are your superpower and by aligning with them, you can live your life with all the energy you need to be a mom, Wife, Daughter and friend to those you love. Until next time!