Hey there! My name is Samara (Sam) and I am the registered dietitian nutritionist behind PCOS Nutrition Co.
I’m passionate about helping people with PCOS take steps towards the healthiest versions of themselves without sacrificing their relationship with food or their bodies.
I have helped hundreds of people with PCOS have less stress and anxiety around food, feel more comfortable in their bodies, bring back their periods, reduce physical symptoms of PCOS and improve health markers like blood sugar, A1c, triglycerides, cholesterol, liver enzymes and blood pressure… all without dieting or restricting foods.
Passion for PCOS.
I am personally connected to PCOS because it runs in my family, and I professionally became connected to PCOS nutrition coaching when I had a brick and mortar private practice called G&G Nutrition Co. I noticed that I was seeing clients on a weekly basis who had been diagnosed with PCOS and were given no direction as to how to improve their symptoms and labs. Most of the focus of treatment was centered around weight loss, leaving my clients in a never ending cycle of trying diet after diet – all while their symptoms and labs were getting worse and they were feeling like complete shit.
I knew that I wanted to support more people with PCOS and created my instagram account, @pcos.nutritionist, to give free nutrition tips to anyone who needed it. I also became involved in PCOS Advocacy initiatives and have been to Capitol Hill twice to advocate for PCOS legislation. Being involved in advocacy has given me the privilege to receive education on the most updated PCOS research, all of which I pass along to my clients.
Health is not a number on the scale.
The biggest barrier people with PCOS face is weight-centric medical care, meaning that most of the advice you receive is around weight loss. Weight is an outcome, not a behavior, so the advice to lose weight does not give you the tools you need to address the root causes of PCOS and improve symptoms. Research also shows that dieting and weight cycling is linked to worsening insulin resistance and inflammation, as well as depression – all things so many people with PCOS struggle with anyway.
This is why I use a non-diet approach to nutrition coaching. I blend PCOS nutrition recommendations with your own inner wisdom to create eating habits that feel great and are maintainable. When we shift the conversation away from weight and towards individualized nutrition and lifestyle habits, you can learn how to care for your body and health in a way that feels realistic. Food is meant to be experienced and enjoyed, and there’s room all foods in your diet while still pursuing wellness.
While most traditional diets focus on the WHAT (eat this! eat that!), my services focus on the HOW and WHY. By peeling back the layers of why you’re making certain food and lifestyle choices, we’re able to truly address wellness obstacles and improve long-term health.
PCOS Group Coaching Program
I created my PCOS Food Freedom Group Coaching Program to help clients understand how to improve the root causes of PCOS without restricting foods or dieting. This program centers the focus around your own nutrition and lifestyle habits as well as mental and emotional health. My clients repeatedly tell me that being in an environment that is not focused on dieting and weight feels like a breath of fresh air, and they are able to learn how to make nutrition and lifestyle choices out of care and respect for the bodies and hormones.
Clients regularly tell me that they experience more comfort in their bodies, less binge eating, less weight cycling, more regular menstrual cycles and improvements in physical symptoms and labs. I am so grateful for my clients and feel humbled that they allow me to be a part of their PCOS journey.
My Education
- BS in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, Virginia Tech
- MSEd in Health Education, Virginia Tech
- Didactic Program in Dietetics, University of Alabama
- Dietetic Internship, Utah State University
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
- Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, State of North Carolina
- In progress – working towards my Intuitive Eating certification!