Hi friends—Amanda here! This post is a bit longer than usual, but Lauren and I hope it gives you a deeper understanding of why we are so passionate about health and wellness, and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
Growing up, we were always active, and our household was filled with nutritious, whole foods. We watched our dad pack his gym bag to squeeze in workouts during his lunch break, and saw our mom stay active, whether it was gardening or taking daily walks around the neighborhood. At the grocery store, our parents allowed us one treat each and encouraged us to spend more time outdoors than in front of the TV. From the age of 4, we took dance classes until we were 14, eventually joining the high school cheerleading team and becoming obsessed with running.
At age 10, we wondered why other dancers were eating chicken nuggets, fries, and cookies, while our parents packed us turkey sandwiches, fruit, and peppers. Visiting friends’ houses, we saw pantries stocked with cookies, chips, and candy—basically a kid’s dream—while our home had Triscuits as the “unhealthiest” option. Some might view this as restrictive, but looking back, it shaped the wellness habits we still follow today.
When puberty hit at 13, we saw our bodies change dramatically, gaining 20 pounds in a single year. Uncomfortable in our own skin, we turned to our mom for advice on losing weight as it began to affect our mental health. Seeing our struggles, our mom wanted to help, having gone through similar experiences herself at that age.
In 2012, low-carb diets like Atkins, and cardio were all the rage for weight loss. Following these trends, we drastically cut carbs, ate low-calorie, and focused on running. In four months, we lost 20 pounds and felt amazing. For two years, we stuck to this routine, but eventually, our bodies stopped responding. Despite cutting calories further and increasing our cardio, we began gaining weight again. By then, we were consuming around 1,000 calories a day, running five miles daily, and avoiding food after 4 PM.
We became obsessed with tracking every calorie, and if we exceeded our limit, we’d run it off. Our hair thinned, missed periods became the norm, and eating “bad foods” left us bloated and inflamed. Friends and family voiced concern, but we believed weight loss was just about controlling calories. This unhealthy cycle continued for several more months until we realized something wasn’t right.
We turned to Google to figure out what wasn’t working and we found potential explanations like hormonal imbalances, hypothyroidism, PCOS and adrenal fatigue. This all made us wonder if there was more to our struggles. We went to our primary care doctor, who ran labs for our thyroid and PCOS. Although the results came back “normal” we noticed they were on the low end of the range. Despite this, the doctor dismissed any concerns, and we were left searching for answers on our own.
In our senior year of high school, we found a trainer who transformed our approach to fitness. He told us to ditch the cardio and HIIT workouts (which sounded terrifying at the time), focus on eating our body weight in grams of protein, strength train, and walk. It was the complete opposite approach to what we had been doing for years, but we decided to trust his guidance. Within two months, we lost 10 pounds, and our mindset shifted.
Things were going well until we left for college. Fearing the “freshman 15,” we returned to low-calorie diets and calorie-burning HIIT workouts. Sleep deprivation and weekend drinking led to sugar cravings and processed foods.
We fell into a cycle of unhealthy habits, and despite gaining 20 pounds, we became convinced it was due to hormonal imbalances. Eventually, we found a doctor who listened to our symptoms and reassessed our lab results, which confirmed hypothyroidism and high cortisol. He prescribed WP Thyroid, advised cutting out gluten, dairy, and alcohol, and suggested supplements and managing our stress to reduce our cortisol. The weight started to come off, but our HIIT workouts and restrictive habits persisted.
Fast forward, and while we’re in a healthier place now, we’re facing familiar hormonal issues. After training for a marathon, which you’d assumed would have leaned us out, it put our bodies into a hormone nightmare. Despite running over 30 miles a week, strength training, and tracking our food, we experienced acne flare-ups (even though we were on Spirnolactone 2x a day, Benzaclin at night and Tretinoin in the mornings). We were also back to missed periods, and weight gain. Again, something felt off and this time we knew it had to be a hormone issue. Before trying a million different solutions, I decided to go to my doctor to tell her about my symptoms. Her solution? Double my Spironolactone dose. She dismissed my irregular menstrual cycle saying “we negate that when patients are on birth control” , even though I’d never experienced irregular cycles before, and “we can’t look at hormones to pinpoint a specific issues.”
As you can imagine, I left frustrated and discourage so I sought out other ways to get answers. After looking into Functional Medicine doctors, I did some more research to find a more affordable option that would still help me understand what’s causing these issues I had been experiencing. That’s when I found Joi Wellness, a company that performs diagnostic labs with functional reports that you can basis for real change. I bought their Hormone + Metabolic + Thyroid blood test that analyzes 65 Biomarkers and quickly got my easy to understand results back with a link to book my appointment with one of their practitioners. What I loved about the results is that they interpret them in a way that shows you the “normal range” but places your levels on what’s optimal. If you’re on the high range of something, they show you that. Your body should be able to function at an optimal level, not a subpar one.
The results were eye-opening—high DHEA, low Free T3, low testosterone, and elevated insulin, suggesting PCOS. This explained so much.
Through years of doing what we thought were “healthy” things, we learned that even the best-intentioned actions can backfire. It wasn’t until now, that we finally feel like we have answers and can accurately implement changes to support our bodies and balance out our hormones. We know this isn’t for everybody but through trial and error we’ve realized the key is to assess what works for your body, and make sustainable changes that support your health long term.
Stay tuned for next week’s post, where we’ll talk through the changes we’ve implemented to support our hormones and how small tweaks to habits we’ve long overlooked have made all the difference.
Throughout the years, we’ve continued to educate ourselves by listening to experts on various podcasts.
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