Oh, hey there!
Thanks so much forstopping by My Simple Plate.
This is my firstofficial blog post (please forgive me if it’s terrible!!) and I am so excited totell you all little more about me, my background and what led me to where I amtoday.
A little about me…
My name is Lisa and I’m from beautiful Melbourne, Australia. I’m an ex-graphic designer turned holistic nutritionist, somewhat of an entrepreneur, food stylist and wholefood-based foodie who enjoys the odd glass of Moscato, because balance – right? On top of all that, I’m also a wife, plant lover and fur-mama to my beautiful Maltese-Poodle girl Audrey. Oh and as of November 2017, I officially joined the ‘cysterhood.”
I have always been passionate about food! I’m Italian so some would say it’s in my blood. I remember sitting at the kitchen bench when I was a little girl watching my mum bake cakes and the most amazing pavlovas while my Nonna would be making the most incredible of pizza doughs. Even now, I still sit at my mum’s kitchen bench and watch her as she intricately cooks an amazing meal without one hint of a recipe. What a talent right?!
I’ve deleted and rewritten this next section a few times and it’s about to get real raw real fast. I contemplated not including it, knowing that family and friends would be reading this, but I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t transparent with you all.
So, here it goes!
Unfortunately, my passionfor food didn’t always manifest itself in such a loving way. Throughout my highschool years up until I was around the age of 21, I played around with faddiets as well as disordered and restrictive eating and over-exercising. This effectedmy mental health as I faced daily undiagnosed anxiety and depression. If only Iknew then what I know now.
In reality, not only was I causing my body great harm, but in hindsight a lot of the issues can be attributed to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). However, I will get into all of that as we continue.
Now get ready for the real TMI stuff – we’re about to talk periods, poop and who knows what else, so if you’re not wanting to hear about ALLL that, I suggest you check out this recipe for the best tasting Hummus you’ll ever have! (Trust me, it’s so good!)
**TMI WARNING**
I started my cycle as an 11-year-old in the middle of the playground at primary school. All I can remember is that I was never regular, it was heavy, it lasted longer than the Dolly Magazine said it should and I always had severe pain that would leave me in the foetal position for the first three days. This continued into my teens, with several doctors dismissing me, saying my pain was normal, suggesting I go on the pill, or take some paracetamol and deal with it. So, I just dealt with it.
By the time I was inmy 20s, I was constantly on the go working full time, studying and living lifeand in 2011, I married my now husband.
Life was grand and in2012, I left full time work to pursue running my own graphic design business.It was a great journey and by the end of 2014, I started to add CrossFit intothe mix of things I did to keep healthy.
Then I hit breaking point.
I was still living ina constant state of stress, still had irregular and painful periods and stillhad doctors tell me it was completely normal.
In May 2015 everything changed. As I looked in the mirror, my brain connected with the pain that I was actually feeling as I saw my ribcage twisted and shifted across over my pelvis. I had two slipped discs and a 4cm annular tear. This saw me unable to walk, sit or lie down in any other position other than on my stomach for the rest of the year. I had a wonderful support network around me who managed to assist me to my intense physio therapy sessions, and by January 2016 I was walking again and was able to start attending pilates three to four times a week.
Everything about my life had changed.
My graphic design business was on hold because I didn”t work during the past year. I had lost a lot of muscle tone and gained a lot of weight and as a result, I just felt a bit flat emotionally and physically. Living with chronic pain everyday can really take a toll on everything from self-confidence through to relationships, and for me, it did.
Onward and upwards from here, or so I thought.
At the beginning of 2017, I started to struggle with bouts of low energy, migraines, dizzy spells and the need for daily 3pm horizontal life pauses aka naps. This caused me to head back to the doctor again. Once again I rattled off my symptoms to my GP, explaining my cycles were irregular and if I was to start considering having children soon (because hello early 30s), I really wanted to find the root cause of these issues. So, more blood tests were taken and I was booked in for an ultrasound the next day.
My blood tests showed I had Vitamin D and B12 deficiencies and that any gastrointestinal issues was due to IBS (because pooping yourself 10 minutes after consuming a meal IS NOT NORMAL!). Further, my ultrasound came back clear. My doctor mentioned it could be PCOS, but she wouldn’t give me an official diagnosis because I only had irregular periods, facial redness with some acne while all of my hormone levels were fine.
Finally, an answer to it all.
Over the next few months I had managed to put on 20kgs. Gaining this amount of weight in a very short amount of time really set the alarm bells ringing. As I fast forward to October that year, can you guess what happened? My period never came!
So off I went to the doctor AGAIN. As per usual, I became a pin cushion, having every blood test under the sun to try and find out what was wrong with me. Finally, my hormones showed that they were not fine and I was given my PCOS diagnosis 2 weeks before Christmas, 2017.
If you want to read more about how my PCOS diagnosis changed my life, make sure you keep an eye out for part 2 of my story coming next week.
I’d love to hear more aboutyou, what brought you to My Simple Plate and if you have PCOS or any otherillness or chronic condition let me know. I really want to learn more about you,and provide you with healthy recipes and nutritional information that is bothsimple, wholesome and healing to the body.
Have the best day,
