Practically Fertile

Remember the “Now What Series” way back when, I went through the popular conditions and what you can do if you were diagnosed with PCOS, unexplained infertility, endometriosis, High FSH.  But I have talked about this one condition.

Today, we’re finally going to talk about exercise because quite frankly, most people exercise way too much when they’re trying to get pregnant. We’re going to talk about the differences between physical activity and exercise, and how exercise impacts your fertility and your ability to get pregnant and also the best exercises for fertility.

In our private group, I get this general feeling that there's so much information out there and it's hard to figure out who to listen to or what applies to you. But a common theme that I'm sensing is that many people are putting stress on their bodies without even realizing it.

If you remember from a previous episode, we went over the idea of the kidney energy reservoir and how genetics, lifestyle choices can seriously impact how quickly we use up the energy in the reservoir. Even though I think people get this concept that if you withdraw from a savings bank without depositing back in, you'll end up with a deficit...I don't think the message really hit home because Chinese medicine concepts can be a little abstract.

So today I want to approach this from a functional medicine perspective and talk about stress, the different types of stress, and how it seriously damages your HPA axis and therefore can affect your chances of getting pregnant.

In this episode, I will:

• Explain the concept of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
• The four common stress triggers that can cause HPA axis dysregulation
• My top tips on how to rebalance the HPA axis

I've also created an assessment for you to gauges your risk for HPA axis Dysregulation, and it will quickly give you an idea of where you fall on the spectrum.

To get your hands on this assessment, you can download it at adriennewei.com/63download.

Links mentioned:

Freebie Download

How to Get Healthy and Get Pregnant Facebook Community

Episodes mentioned:

Episode 26

Episode 38

Episode 40

Episode 49

Episode 50

Most people are exposing themselves to more stress than they realize. It's no secret that stress can seriously damage your fertility. In this episode, we talk about the concept of HPA axis and how critical it is to manage it properly if you want to get pregnant.

So today, I want you to meet Sarah.

Sarah is a mom to a beautiful little boy and she is trying to conceive for the second time but unfortunately suffered two miscarriages back to back.

In this episode, we talk a lot about nutrition because Sarah is a vegetarian and has been for many years. Even though animal protein is my preferred source for proteins, I never ever force anyone to stop being a vegetarian. So don't worry, I do not try to convince Sarah to switch her eating habits. But I give Sarah a few pointers on how to adjust her diet to boost her fertility.

Sarah is super inquisitive. She asked a bunch of great questions that I think you're going to love hearing the answers to. Some of these questions I see coming up over and over again in our private group, so it's going to provide clarity for those of you who are confused about certain concepts.

Links mentioned:

How to Get Healthy and Get Pregnant

Sarah is trying to conceive for a second child and have suffered two losses back to back. I coach Sarah on how to adjust her nutrition and lifestyle plan to boost fertility.

It sounds familiar right?

You're doing everything possible to improve your health and get pregnant, but your husband or partner doesn't seem to understand or willing to pull their fair share of the weight...especially when sperm quality issues are the reasons standing between you and your growing family.

In today's episode, I interview licensed counselor Kasandra Wheeler to get her top tips on how to start these difficult conversations with our S.O. without getting into a screaming match.

Kasandra shares her tips on what to do when:

1. Your husband doesn't seem to understand the emotional impact of the BFN.

2. He has poor sperm quality but is unwilling to make the lifestyle changes.

3. He is unwilling to explore other treatment options such as IVF, IUI, or alternative therapies.

Kasandra also shares her "Worry-Period" technique for reducing overall anxiety and depression.

Links mentioned:

www.adriennewei.com

Episodes mentioned:

#58 - The One Thing I'm Scared to Tell You

Male infertility is on the rise, but what do you do when your husband is unwilling to make the necessary changes? Learn how to start difficult conversations on sensitive topic with your spouse in this episode.

This past Monday, I did something scary and felt really vulnerable. In the special episode, I talked about how I'm restructuring all my programs hoping to serve you better and help you get pregnant. But if I can be honest with you, it was kind of an emotional episode for me to record.

Before I hit publish for that episode, I went through a range of emotions. I was scared of being judged. In my head I was playing out what other people would say, like "oh there she goes again, wishy-washy, always changing things up." Or "that was one huge sales pitch and she's just using this as an opportunity to promote her program." I also felt like I've let other people down. It felt like I had pulled the rug from underneath all the people that were perhaps thinking about joining the membership site. Also I felt like I've let myself down, like a failure that after two years here I am back at square one and still figuring things out.

Over the years, somehow I got it in my head that my self-worth is tied to how others think of me. I always feel like I have to maintain a certain image and have to be perfect.

But, I sort of had a moment after I hit publish on Monday for the special episode. As I worked through all my emotions, I said to myself, "wow, how will I inspire others to take action and face their fears if I am not leading by example."

So that brings me to today's episode.

I am going to take the first step towards conquering my fear of being judged or criticized by sharing something that I've been afraid to tell you.

This is going to be pretty deep, and I appreciate the fact that you're giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts as I work towards more self compassion and more self acceptance.

So let's dive in.

This past Monday, I did something scary and felt really vulnerable.  In the special episode, I talked about how I’m restructuring all my programs hoping to serve you better and help you get pregnant.  But if I can be honest with you, it was kind of an emotional episode for me to record.  

Before I hit publish for that episode, I went through a range of emotions.  I was scared of being judged. In my head I was playing out what other people would say, like “oh there she goes again, wishy-washy,  always changing things up.”  Or “that was one huge sales pitch and she’s just using this as an opportunity to promote her program.”  I also felt like I’ve let other people down.  It felt like I had pulled the rug from underneath all the people that were perhaps thinking about joining the membership site.  Also I felt like I’ve let myself down, like a failure that after two years here I am back at square one and still figuring things out.  

Over the years, somehow I got it in my head that my self-worth is tied to how others think of me.  I always feel like I have to maintain a certain image and have to be perfect.

But, I sort of had a moment after I hit publish on Monday for the special episode.  As I worked through all my emotions, I said to myself, “wow, how will I inspire others to take action and face their fears if I am not leading by example.”  

So that brings me to today’s episode.  

I am going to take the first step towards conquering my fear of being judged or criticized by sharing something that I’ve been afraid to tell you.  

This is going to be pretty deep, and I appreciate the fact that you’re giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts as I work towards more self compassion and more self acceptance.  

So let’s dive in.