The Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Podcast

This podcast episode walks through how we use lab work before working with a woman with hypothalamic amenorrhea, when we use and how to understand it for your missing period.

Join the Mastermind

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Become a Coach:

https://www.holistichapractitioner.com/

Get the Lab Guide

https://thehasociety.com/labguide

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

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https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

For 17 years, Laura lived without a cycle.

She was told not to worry.

She wasn’t trying to get pregnant.

So she assumed she had time.

She did have hypothalamic amenorrhea.

And she believed she could recover whenever she was ready.

Laura joined the Holistic HA Practitioner (HHAP) Certification to better understand her own body. As she worked through the lab modules and we reviewed her bloodwork together, something became clear: Her HA had progressed into Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI).

In this episode, we talk about:

• Being dismissed because you’re “not trying for kids”

• Assuming HA is always reversible

• The danger of waiting too long

• The moment you realize your window may have closed

• The grief, regret, and responsibility that comes with that

This is not a fear-based episode.

It’s an honest one.

If you’re living in quasi-recovery, telling yourself you’ll address it “one day,” this conversation matters.

Laura joined HHAP to understand her own labs and that education is what revealed the shift.

Enrollment for the Holistic HA Practitioner Certification opens March 13-17th.

Because understanding your hormones shouldn’t take 17 years.

Join The HHAP Program

https://www.holistichapractitioner.com/

Join the Mastermind

https://holistichapractitioner.com/mastermind

Get the Lab Guide

https://thehasociety.com/labguide

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

In this episode Ashley shares a case study about her client who chased the PCOS misdiagnosis for 10+ years...when it was HA all along.

Interesting in taking this certification? Here's what you can do:

1. Register for the mastermind https://holistichapractitioner.com/mastermind
2. Apply for the program (it opens October 14th!): https://holistichapractitioner.com/enroll

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

In this episode, Ashley shares her decade-long journey with HA from losing her cycle during an eating disorder in college, to being reassured by doctors that it was “normal” and nothing to worry about.

She was praised for her low weight. Told to eat 1,800 calories. Advised to go on birth control if that didn’t work.

At one point, she was even misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes due to an elevated A1c, which pushed her into more restriction, only to later discover she was severely anemic from malnourishment, falsely elevating her labs.

After joining our FREE Recovery Bootcamp, she finally had the tools to fully commit and recover on her own.

In this episode, we cover:

1. The subtle behaviors that kept her stuck (even when she thought she was "all in")
2. The comfort zone disguised as “healthy habits”
3. How validation from her GP reinforced the problem
4. Using FAM to objectively track progress
5. The discomfort of real recovery
6. Her biggest regret: waiting so long

If you’re hovering in half-in recovery, told you’re “fine”, know deep down you’re not doing everything…This one is for you.

Jool Wellness

https://joolwellness.com

HHAP Period Recovery Mastermind

https://www.holistichapractitioner.com/mastermind

Join The HA Society

http://thehasociety.com/join

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia/

https://www.instagram.com/abbylowekey/

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

In this episode we discuss our personal relationships, past and present, with our bodies. We also comment on fear of weight gain and control from the perspective of being YEARS past recovery and YEARS past dieting. We also share our insights on these topics as experienced coaches of many women who are trying to tackle their low hormone function. Enjoy!

You can also watch this episode on Youtube!

Jool Wellness

https://joolwellness.com

Join The HA Society

http://thehasociety.com/join

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia/

https://www.instagram.com/abbylowekey/

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

Binge eating is part of so many HA stories, even if we don’t always talk about it. In this episode, we’re joined by Amber, Binge Eating & Overeating Coach (aka The Confident Eater), to unpack the restrict–binge cycle and what it actually takes to feel normal around food again.

After years of struggling with “all the eating issues”, restriction, overeating, bingeing, food obsession, Amber decided enough was enough. She immersed herself in therapy, coaching, books, and deep self-work until she found true food freedom.

Now, she helps women stop binge eating in a way that’s faster, simpler, and more sustainable than white-knuckling willpower ever could be.

Inside this episode, we cover:

1. The real root causes of binge eating
2. Why restriction and bingeing are more connected than you think
3. What you’re actually getting from a binge (it’s not just about food)
4. How long it realistically takes to stop binge eating
5. How to rewire your brain and break the pattern
6. The role of artificial sweeteners and “natural flavors” in overeating
7. What food freedom actually feels like on the other side

Connect with Amber:

theconfidenteater.org

https://instagram.com/theconfidenteater_

Jool Wellness

https://joolwellness.com

Join The HA Society

http://thehasociety.com/join

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia/

https://www.instagram.com/abbylowekey/

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

Lexi’s story is one so many women in HA recovery will recognize. On the outside, she looked healthy, disciplined, and “high functioning.” On the inside, her body was quietly waving red flags. Years of under-fueling, over-exercising, and being praised for it made it hard to see there was a problem at all.

In this episode, Lexi shares what it was like to live in half-recovery—doing some of the work, but still negotiating with food, exercise, and control. We talk about how identity and denial can keep you stuck longer than you realize, and the moment she finally understood that real healing required full surrender, not just small adjustments. If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing “enough” but still not getting your cycle back, this conversation will hit home.

Jool Wellness

https://joolwellness.com

Join The HA Society

http://thehasociety.com/join

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

https://instagram.com/ashley_marie_smith_

https://www.instagram.com/itsmishigarcia/

https://www.instagram.com/abbylowekey/

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

In this powerful episode of The Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Podcast, Victoria opens up about her deeply personal journey through eating disorders, body image struggles, and the long road to restoring her menstrual health. From developing restrictive habits as a teenager to receiving a potential PCOS diagnosis after coming off birth control, Victoria’s story offers a raw and honest look at what recovery from hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) can really look like.

Victoria shares how her struggles with overexercising, calorie restriction, dieting culture, and external pressures escalated during COVID-19 and followed her from Singapore to London. She discusses how traditional therapy often fell short and how working with a coach helped her shift her identity away from “being anorexic” and toward building a life centered on nourishment, joy, and well-being.

Inside this episode, you’ll hear:

• Victoria’s experience with HA, birth control, and losing her period for six months
• How her medical team suspected PCOS and how she navigated the confusion
• The moment that sparked her mindset shift—from fear of weight gain to wanting to actually live her life
• Her experience in the HA Society’s Restore Program and working with coach Abby
• What helped her finally ovulate and get regular periods again
• How she balanced reduced exercise, increased food intake, and stress management
• Her decision to prioritize comfortable clothing and body respect over sizing pressures
• Why having the right community and guidance made all the difference

Now actively enrolled in the HHAP certification track, Victoria is working toward becoming a women’s health and recovery coach herself, transforming her lived experience into a new mission to help others.

If you’re struggling with hypothalamic amenorrhea, disordered eating, overtraining, or the pressure to shrink your body, this episode is a must-listen. Victoria’s story is relatable, encouraging, and a true reminder that full recovery is possible with the right support.

Join Restore Your Fertility (Enrollment open now-1/23/26)

https://www.thehasociety.com/restore-live

Join The HA Society

http://thehasociety.com/join

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Become a Certified Holistic HA Practitioner

https://www.holistichapractitioner.com/

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.

We get how frustrating it is to feel like you’re doing the most and still not making progress.

The changes you’ve already made have been really helpful, but now you need to make it to the finish line.

We’re going to help you push past the plateau:

• truly understand YOUR hypothalamic amenorrhea and YOUR fertility
• so that you can identify the blindspots in your recovery that are holding you back
• and develop the tools you need to recover and keep it that way
• which makes it easy to prepare for conception
• so that you and your body are ready for go-time

We cut out the fluff and help you get right to the juicy stuff: Why you have HA, how to identify and remove unhelpful food and exercise rules that are still secretly thriving, balance your blood sugar and establish new habits and routines that will actually serve you – all with the goal to help you get your period back, plan for conception and of course, get pregnant asap.

Maggie’s recovery story will resonate with runners and women who learned to equate control, performance, and worth with staying small. After years of restriction, being told she was “healthy,” and struggling to maintain cycles while trying to conceive, Maggie realized recovery required more than willpower.

Through the Restore Program, coaching, and community inside The HA Society, she learned to let go of body control, navigate weight gain, and rebuild trust in her body, even when the process wasn’t linear. Her story is a powerful reminder that healing often begins when we give ourselves permission to honor what our bodies actually need.

Apply for the Restore Your Fertility Group Program | Starts January 19th 2026

https://thehasociety.com/restore-live

Work 1:1 with us to get your period back

http://thehasociety.com/coaching

Visit us on YouTube

https://youtube.com/c/danisheriff

Follow us on IG

http://instagram.com/thehasociety

http://instagram.com/danisheriff

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.