At 34 my life completely changed when I lost all my energy, stopped having my period, gained weight, and basically started feeling like a shell of a human. I had my hormones tested and learned I essentially no longer had any, which meant I was far from fertile. I had been following a strict vegetarian diet for many years, living on caffeine to fuel my lifestyle, and majorly overexercising.
In my efforts to recover, I cut back on caffeine, my training, and the hard core classes I was teaching, but nothing really changed. I saw several doctors that put me on various bioidentical and thyroid hormones, but I still felt horrible. I started digging deep into the research and learned about the importance of cholesterol for hormone production. The sex and adrenal hormones are all synthesized from cholesterol. If we don’t eat enough good quality cholesterol, our bodies divert the cholesterol from the endocrine (hormonal) system to use for brain function. As such, I made the hard decision to try to let go of my sadness around eating animal products and reclaim my health. Within about 6 weeks of eating grass-fed butter, grass-fed beef, and pasture-raised eggs daily, my period returned and I slowly started to feel like myself again.
Had I tried to get pregnant in my early 30s, I very likely wouldn’t have been able to! I may have looked healthy, but I was far from it. Around age 30 and beyond our hormones become more delicate. The marathon training that made you feel empowered in your early 20s could make you infertile in your 30s. The diet that may have helped you achieve your “goal weight” at 25 may make you overweight and unable to conceive at 35. Unfortunately, our bodies just become more sensitive to EVERYTHING as we age. Toxins, exercise, diet, stress levels, and sleep all impact our health and hormones in major ways the older we get. To stay healthy and fertile as we age we have to pay attention to all the components of living a healthy lifestyle.
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