If you follow me on socials or have read this blog you will have heard the physical struggles I have had to combat over the last 2 years.
From strength loss, muscle loss, body fat gain and a real knock to my confidence and mental health it has been a rough ride – one of the reasons I have found this so challenging is because no one could give me answer. People would just tell me my blood work is fine, it’s in my head, I just need to diet harder, diet less, spend time at maintenance, spend time in a surplus.. quit lifting all together!
But no solid proof or diagnosis and one Dr even saying i’m having “Pushing myself to having a mental breakdown” – I wish I was joking.
I’ve been coasting along beginning to accept that it was all in my head and i’m just different now. I started therapy to try and improve my mental health and self confidence and then I started talking to Mads (Team Raw). She was listening to me talk about the issues i’ve had for the last two years and she was convinced it wasn’t in my head as she’d had a client in a similar position and had worked with Dr Dean to try and resolve her issues.
So she asked Dr Dean to look at my bloods and immediately he picked out multiple issues. Not that any of my values were out with the standard markers, but he was looking at the ratio’s between the markers and how certain markers the are elevated/reduced can have a knock on impact across the entire body. I then got a number of specific tests related to insulin levels and insulin resistance which showed I do have insulin resistance and high insulin levels so my pancreas is over producing insulin.
After seeing my blood work we jumped on a call to really go into detail of my history/symptoms and he is confident that my symptoms and blood work correlate with PCOS and hashimotos.
I was investigated for PCOS in early 2021 pre prep but was told I didn’t have it as my testosterone levels were not high enough but I do have cysts on my ovaries and all other symptoms to fit – Dean is confident that this was a mis diagnosis.
I am now going to be implementing additional drugs and health supps to help with insulin resistance, pancreas function and overall health outcomes including metformin, lantus, GLP-1 agonist berberine, glucOX and omega 3.
I am looking forward to seeing how this helps me. I’m under no illusion that I will be “fixed” because we spoke about how this is a condition that will need to be managed long term – but to know that there are things I can do to help manage my symptoms is just a relief more than anything.
I feel a weight has been lifted mentally. I’m not batshit crazy.
This week has definitely been up and down.
We travelled to Milan for Joe’s show. He did amazing and placed 3rd in an amazing line up of athletes. We also got to meet our coach Lucas properly for the first time after chatting on zoom or WhatsApp every week so was amazing to have the team together.
We also had Full Boars very own Robbie to come and support with the whole show documented by Metanoia media which is on our YouTube so make sure you check it out!
It was a great weekend all round until…
I fell down the stairs with my suitcase on the way to the taxi at 5am which was taking us to the airport. Felt something pop in my ankle and by the time we got to the airport 35 mins later it was the size of a tennis ball and super painful.
Travelled to the UK as planned and just had to grin and bear the pain.
Swelling has continued to get worse but luckily there is no fracture after having an x-ray.
The physio in me was confident it was ATFL sprain but I just wanted to rule out a fracture which I have. So the plan now will be planning a rehab protocol for myself to get back to full function as fast as possible.
Not ideal but just another bump in the very bumpy road of 2023
So been a couple of weeks since my last update but things are pretty similar.
Exactly the same set up with food, steps, nutrition etc and bodyweight is holding steady which is nice.
Training is still flying and working hard to hit my performance goals:
-Shoulder press 18×10 so will be onto the 20’s this week
-Smith hip thrust still at 120 just working on keeping that connection and increasing reps. My glutes aren’t my strong point so making sure I progress but still keep connection is super important for me.
- 2.5 plates pendulum has been hit so will be 2.75 this week (3 plates is in touching distance at the rate I’m progressing with this which I’m buzzing about)
- 3.5 plates on the leg press so 3.75 this week
Quads are my strong point strength wise (wish it was the same for my glutes but such is life)
Got a busy few weeks ahead with travelling to Italy and the UK for Joe’s shows but for now it’s routine as normal
Hey hey,
So another week of maintenance and feeling relatively good. It’s a weird limbo feeling that can be hard when you’re used to being in either a diet phase or a building phase – being somewhere in the middle seems rather odd.
I want to get back to somewhere near peak strength before the end of the year and put all my focus on training
Current performance goals:
20kg DB shoulder press (hitting 18×6 currently)
150 smith hip thrust (hitting 120 currently)
3 plates pendulum (2 currently)
4pps leg press (3 currently)
I think it’s important to have performance goals when aesthetics aren’t the primary focus to keep my head in a good spot more than anything – hopefully muscle mass will be regained in the process
So another week on maintenance and strength is finally flying again. Every session I’m going in and being confident that my numbers are going to improve which is the best feeling.
From an energy standpoint I feel great.
Food is currently 1800 TD 1700 RD and 8k steps daily. Training x4 with dance and Pilates once per week.
Finally getting back to my old self and enjoying feeling stronger every session.
I think we have a bit of a breakthrough
If you follow me on socials or have read this blog you will have heard the physical struggles I have had to combat over the last 2 years.
From strength loss, muscle loss, body fat gain and a real knock to my confidence and mental health it has been a rough ride – one of the reasons I have found this so challenging is because no one could give me answer. People would just tell me my blood work is fine, it’s in my head, I just need to diet harder, diet less, spend time at maintenance, spend time in a surplus.. quit lifting all together!
But no solid proof or diagnosis and one Dr even saying i’m having “Pushing myself to having a mental breakdown” – I wish I was joking.
I’ve been coasting along beginning to accept that it was all in my head and i’m just different now. I started therapy to try and improve my mental health and self confidence and then I started talking to Mads (Team Raw). She was listening to me talk about the issues i’ve had for the last two years and she was convinced it wasn’t in my head as she’d had a client in a similar position and had worked with Dr Dean to try and resolve her issues.
So she asked Dr Dean to look at my bloods and immediately he picked out multiple issues. Not that any of my values were out with the standard markers, but he was looking at the ratio’s between the markers and how certain markers the are elevated/reduced can have a knock on impact across the entire body. I then got a number of specific tests related to insulin levels and insulin resistance which showed I do have insulin resistance and high insulin levels so my pancreas is over producing insulin.
After seeing my blood work we jumped on a call to really go into detail of my history/symptoms and he is confident that my symptoms and blood work correlate with PCOS and hashimotos.
I was investigated for PCOS in early 2021 pre prep but was told I didn’t have it as my testosterone levels were not high enough but I do have cysts on my ovaries and all other symptoms to fit – Dean is confident that this was a mis diagnosis.
I am now going to be implementing additional drugs and health supps to help with insulin resistance, pancreas function and overall health outcomes including metformin, lantus, GLP-1 agonist berberine, glucOX and omega 3.
I am looking forward to seeing how this helps me. I’m under no illusion that I will be “fixed” because we spoke about how this is a condition that will need to be managed long term – but to know that there are things I can do to help manage my symptoms is just a relief more than anything.
I feel a weight has been lifted mentally. I’m not batshit crazy.
This week has definitely been up and down.
We travelled to Milan for Joe’s show. He did amazing and placed 3rd in an amazing line up of athletes. We also got to meet our coach Lucas properly for the first time after chatting on zoom or WhatsApp every week so was amazing to have the team together.
We also had Full Boars very own Robbie to come and support with the whole show documented by Metanoia media which is on our YouTube so make sure you check it out!
It was a great weekend all round until…
I fell down the stairs with my suitcase on the way to the taxi at 5am which was taking us to the airport. Felt something pop in my ankle and by the time we got to the airport 35 mins later it was the size of a tennis ball and super painful.
Travelled to the UK as planned and just had to grin and bear the pain.
Swelling has continued to get worse but luckily there is no fracture after having an x-ray.
The physio in me was confident it was ATFL sprain but I just wanted to rule out a fracture which I have. So the plan now will be planning a rehab protocol for myself to get back to full function as fast as possible.
Not ideal but just another bump in the very bumpy road of 2023
Hey hey,
So been a couple of weeks since my last update but things are pretty similar.
Exactly the same set up with food, steps, nutrition etc and bodyweight is holding steady which is nice.
Training is still flying and working hard to hit my performance goals:
-Shoulder press 18×10 so will be onto the 20’s this week
-Smith hip thrust still at 120 just working on keeping that connection and increasing reps. My glutes aren’t my strong point so making sure I progress but still keep connection is super important for me.
- 2.5 plates pendulum has been hit so will be 2.75 this week (3 plates is in touching distance at the rate I’m progressing with this which I’m buzzing about)
- 3.5 plates on the leg press so 3.75 this week
Quads are my strong point strength wise (wish it was the same for my glutes but such is life)
Got a busy few weeks ahead with travelling to Italy and the UK for Joe’s shows but for now it’s routine as normal
Hey hey,
So another week of maintenance and feeling relatively good. It’s a weird limbo feeling that can be hard when you’re used to being in either a diet phase or a building phase – being somewhere in the middle seems rather odd.
I want to get back to somewhere near peak strength before the end of the year and put all my focus on training
Current performance goals:
20kg DB shoulder press (hitting 18×6 currently)
150 smith hip thrust (hitting 120 currently)
3 plates pendulum (2 currently)
4pps leg press (3 currently)
I think it’s important to have performance goals when aesthetics aren’t the primary focus to keep my head in a good spot more than anything – hopefully muscle mass will be regained in the process
Hey hey,
So another week on maintenance and strength is finally flying again. Every session I’m going in and being confident that my numbers are going to improve which is the best feeling.
From an energy standpoint I feel great.
Food is currently 1800 TD 1700 RD and 8k steps daily. Training x4 with dance and Pilates once per week.
Finally getting back to my old self and enjoying feeling stronger every session.