Ericka

Before the 7 Day Jumpstart Program, I was overwhelmed by my daughter’s diagnosis of PCOS and terrified of its implications for her future if we didn’t do something to manage it. I was determined to try a natural approach first, but very confused about what sort of eating plan we should adopt. I am no stranger to health and natural foods, but my daughter did not eat vegetables and I didn’t know what I could make that she would eat. I also was feeling that whatever I did for her needed to be a family change, and not just for her so she wouldn’t feel singled out.

Through the 7 Day Jumpstart I can’t even begin to say how all the changes impacted us. First, my entire family did Jumpstart. From all the meals to being media free for the week, we went through this together with the expectation that this week was just what the title implies – a Jumpstart into a new and necessary lifestyle for us. I kept saying all week, “We aren’t going back.”

First, the meals were fabulous, so we now have several meal ideas that my family either tolerated or outright enjoyed. My children ate vegetables and will continue to eat vegetables. We have already started the 6-week Spring Meal Plan and my children know not to complain
and they have to eat a veggie, a starch and a protein. This in and of itself is a huge battle won, and with winning the battle I have so much peace knowing that I am protecting their health. Also, it was exhausting fighting all the time about food, and now our meals are enjoyable. When we ate movie popcorn, we realized how awful we felt, so it is now easier to turn away from all those foods out there that just aren’t worth it. I realized how negative our family is and how addicted to media we were, so now we have implemented a daily 2 hour media limit and Sundays are completely media free. This gives us time to develop our relationships with one another as we have to be intentional about how to spend our time.

We began to have a better relationship with the idea of movement rather than exercise and will continue this into our future as well. We’ve cleaned out our pantry and PCOS Diva gave us a manageable plan in the form of doable ideas like preparing ahead of time, mason jar salads, leftover lunches and planned overs. All of us are sleeping better, have more energy, are more alert and happy and feel lighter. My husband commented that he enjoys this way of eating because he doesn’t feel heavy and he actually feels hungry between meals and looks forward to eating. For myself, I realized that I wasn’t taking good enough care of myself and have been getting up early to have some time to myself and for my morning movement.

My advice to women considering the Jumpstart Program in the future is if  you have PCOS, you already know that making dietary and lifestyle changes is a must. You might be thinking you can do it alone and figure it all out. And you can. But why? The PCOS Jumpstart Program is so
much more than just a grocery list and menu. It’s support from other women with PCOS, it is a wealth of information packed into one week, it is truly life changing, not just diet changing. It is a jump start into a whole new life and the journey is much easier when it’s made alongside others.