Kelly Morrow-Baez - Thriving with PCOS: Lifestyle Strategies to Successfully Manage Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Kelly Morrow-Baez (a.k.a. the FitShrink) is a licensed professional counselor with a PhD in psychology and more than ten years in practice. As a health-motivation expert, she writes for publications like Thrive Global and Everyday Power Blog , where she explains how mental health, emotional wellness, and physical health are connected and how you can begin your health journey in a way that is empowered and sustainable.

No stranger to PCOS and weight loss, Kelly went through a seventy-five-pound weight loss after the birth of her second child. She believes the best strategy for achieving healthy weight is neither flashy nor extremeits purposeful and consistent. Drawing on her personal and professional experience, she developed a strategy to address the physical symptoms of PCOS and lost the weight, putting all but one of her PCOS symptoms into remission. She believes that lasting weight loss and thriving with PCOS is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Instead, she believes that approaching lifestyle change with authenticity is infinitely more sustainable. In her view, consistency is better than intensity.

Kelly has been featured in Dr. Oz: The Good Life magazine and has added her expertise to articles in Forbes , Teen Vogue , and Parents Magazine , among others. In addition, she has been on numerous podcasts and radio programs to explain the secret to her wellness approach. She is on a mission to change the way people think about getting healthy.

Kelly is a lifelong equestrian, avid runner, failure in the kitchen, and devoted homeschooling mom. When shes not writing, speaking, or coaching, she enjoys spending time with her polo-playing husband, her two kids, and her collection of dogs, cats, and horses on their farm just outside of Columbus, Georgia.

You can learn more about Kelly Morrow-Baez at http://www.fitshrink.com and join her Facebook group, FitShrink PCOS.

Published by Rowman & Littlefield
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Copyright 2018 by Kelly Morrow-Baez

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Morrow-Baez, Kelly, 1976 author.

Title: Thriving with PCOS : lifestyle strategies to successfully manage polycystic ovary syndrome / Kelly Morrow-Baez.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017029198 (print) | LCCN 2017030654 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538108055 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538108048 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: | MESH: Polycystic Ovary Syndrometherapy | Polycystic Ovary Syndromepsychology | Healthy Lifestyle | Health Behavior

Classification: LCC RG480.S7 (ebook) | LCC RG480.S7 (print) | NLM WP 320 | DDC 618.1/1dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017029198

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To my mom, who always told me Id write a book.
And to my dad, who gave me the determination to go out and do it.

Sherry A. Ross

A fter twenty-five years practicing as an OBGYN, I can tell you that women who have some or all of the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome are completely confused. What is PCOS? How is it treated? What does it mean for them down the road? Unfortunately, women with this syndrome are also more prone to serious medical conditions than the average population. But in reading this book, you will learn how to avoid these common medical conditions with healthy-living strategies through diet, exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, a regular sleep schedule, and being proactive in your medical care.

What is wonderful about this book is that Dr. Kelly Morrow-Baez has personally experienced the signs, symptoms, and frustrations associated with this chronic syndrome and here offers doable lifestyle remedies to help you navigate this syndrome. Her approach is proactive, holistic, and realistic. She reinforces three basic mantrasmotivation, mind-set, and mindfulnessto guide you through managing PCOS. She answers the question Why me? when it comes to accepting your diagnosis of PCOS. You can handle and conquer the diagnosis if you follow her path of dealing with and accepting PCOS.

Many women with PCOS have a challenging time losing weight and tend to be overweight or obese. Not only is this frustrating, but it can also be isolating and depressing. Kelly helps you take control of your body, showing you how to eat foods that are plant-based, nutrient-rich, fresh, and unprocessed, along with healthy fats, and otherwise implement an ideal diet that becomes a lifelong diet strategy. She understands full well that controlling your weight also helps control other symptoms of PCOSlike irregular periods, excess hair growth, and acne.

If you are among the 510 percent of women who suffer from symptoms of PCOS, know that there are many treatment options available. As Kelly explains in great detail, healthy living and thinking holistically may be your best prescription. She assists you in developing healthy-lifestyle strategies and aids you in developing new habits, like personal journaling, that will bring you results.

Any woman suffering from PCOS could use a knowledgeable wellness dream team of experts, including a gynecologist and nutritionist, and Kelly gives you some invaluable suggestions for putting together your own care team, which, when combined with your own newly adopted healthy lifestyle choices, will take you far on the road to successfully managing your PCOS. The good news is that there are great treatments to control the symptoms caused by PCOS, and adapting certain lifestyle behaviors will help avoid some of the long-term medical diseases. While there is no cure for PCOS, effective treatment depends on the symptoms you are experiencing and your commitment to meeting medical interventions with a proactive lifestyle strategy. Treating each symptom separately will depend on how disruptive each one is in your life and daily routine.

Kellys recommendations make sense, are doable, and free you from the confusion associated with a diagnosis of PCOS. Her journal questions following each chapter will help you focus on ways to improve your mind-set and develop a deeper understanding of your roadblocks to wellness.

Dr. Kelly Morrow-Baez is a PCOS survivor, a realist, and a woman who can walk you through life understanding and accepting a diagnosis of PCOS. Best of all, Kelly provides hope for managing all the obstacles too often overlooked by health-care providers. Healthy living and focusing on the positive is your best treatment in dealing with a PCOS diagnosis.

Learn and live through Kellys supportive tools and strategies for healthy living and refining your own personal story so you can live life thriving with PCOS. As Kelly simply puts it, the time is now to take control of your health . Proactive self-care is possible and is the solution to not letting PCOS ruin your life. Being a consistent partner in your health is half the battle, and the strategies in this book will help you make that a reality.