Maintaining Exercise (and Sanity) While Undergoing Fertility Treatment with Dr. Sara Ionescu

In this motivating and inspiring conversation with Dr. Sara Ionescu, we discuss:

• maintaining an exercise routine while undergoing fertility treatments

• mindset shifts which can help expand our definition of exercise

• tips for exercising consistently, and also within the guidelines of your fertility doctor

• how we can increase our tools for navigating the fertility journey with mindful movement, and not depend on vigorous exercise alone for stress reduction

• how this process can upgrade our identity as we move towards becoming parents and growing our families

Dr. Sara Ionescu is a board certified family medicine physician, and exercise enthusiast. She is passionate about wellness, preventative care, and exercise and loves to inspire others to move. She strives to stay physically active daily as she sees massive physical and mental health benefits with this and wants to help, inspire and encourage others to do the same!

Website: drsaraionescu.com

Instagram: @drsaraionescu

YouTube: @DrSaraIonescu

Facebook: facebook.com/drsaraionescu

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drsaraionescu

As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice.

If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link:

https://calendly.com/loveandsciencefertility/discovery-call

Also, be sure to check out our website: loveandsciencefertility.com

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Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always.

In Gratitude,

Dr. Erica Bove

Transcript:

Hello, my loves, and welcome back to the Love and Science podcast.

Today, I have an amazing guest.

She is a friend and a colleague.

Her name is Dr.

Sarah Inescu, and she is a family medicine physician who is also a coach, and her area of expertise is helping women through the full spectrum of building their families with exercise.

And we share this passion because I am obsessed with exercise myself.

And as we all know, the fertility journey does kind of put a wrench in things because it's like, no, not just hurry up and wait, but like, hurry up and exercise, hurry up and do an exercise.

Like there's all these like rules, which can really kind of make it more difficult to get into a routine, feel like you're doing the right thing at the right time.

And then also that sort of question of like, well, if I don't do this perfectly, quote unquote, because I don't believe in perfect, like, is that really going to mess with my fertility journey?

So just in way of formal introductions, Dr.

Sarah Inescu is a board certified family medicine physician.

She's a wife and an exercise enthusiast.

She's passionate about wellness, preventative care, and exercise and loves to inspire others to move.

She strives to stay physically active daily, which is amazing.

She has like this amazing streak going on as she sees massive physical and mental health benefits with this and wants to help inspire and encourage others to do the same.

And no, she also has a family building a journey herself, which is very inspiring too.

So I think as we think about, you know, full spectrum care, let's think about how we can learn from her.

And I'm just so excited for this conversation.

Thank you so much for being here, Dr.

Sarah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you, Dr.

Eric.

I'm so excited to be here and so excited for the opportunity.

Awesome.

So let's dive in.

So, you know, so tell me a little bit about your story because you are a competitive athlete, right?

Yes, I would.

So yes, I started swimming basically at the age of five.

And I swam competitively all the way through college.

And then the first kind of bump in the road with my exercise journey was going from being a competitive athlete in college to now what do I do?

Because when I graduated and got my first job, I sort of was used to having a coach prescribe everything for me.

And so now all of a sudden I was trying to figure out how do I do this by myself, like on my own.

And so that was a little bit of a process.

And I kind of navigated that I sort of found running and the gym like actually physically going to a gym as a way to sort of replace swimming because I found swimming to have a lot of barriers.

It's a wonderful activity, but you have to have a pool and you have to change it.

Like there's a lot extra steps there.

So that worked for a while.

And then when I got into medical school, obviously, as a lot of your listeners, I think are maybe in the physician or healthcare world, you know, obviously your life changes.

Things are different.

There's different priorities.

The amount of time you have to dedicate things changes.

And as you move through that journey of residency and then being in attending, you know, you really have to adjust things.

And I found for me, that ended up being like a really big barrier because I had been so used to being a competitive athlete and had this definition in my mind of what exercise was.

And when I was in these different stages of medical school and residency and then being in attending and the responsibility level change and the hours I was working changed, I realized that definition that I had before was actually a really big barrier for me to exercising consistency because as a typical type A person, I wasn't able to meet that definition anymore.

So for me at that point, it meant, okay, well, I'm just not going to do anything.

And then every day I was struggling and beating myself up with, well, I'm not moving in the way that I want to, but I also wasn't changing anything.

So it was sort of this like vicious cycle that ultimately led to, I think more of what we're going to talk about.

But yeah, so that was kind of my journey up to, you know, becoming in attending.

That makes so much sense.

I mean, I think a lot of us in medicine struggle with this like all or none thinking.

And we think about like exercise is sort of one way.

And so to think about doing anything, quote unquote, less than that feels like a failure.

So then it's like, well, why do I even bother?

You know, and I think that that comes up a lot in, you know, in my clients and my patients, because I will say the vast majority of my clients are physically active and have used exercise as a tool for mental health and physical health in the past.

But what happens is like, you know, they're told, okay, well, you're doing IVF and your ovaries are getting bigger and you don't want to risk a torsion.

And so there's this kind of like, well, you know, can I walk?

Can I do some like biking?

Can I do anything?

Like when can I resume my physical activity?

And so I do think that, you know, that idea of like, you know, sort of what is the purpose of exercise and how can we almost like kind of like a menu, like, you know, it's, it's like, you know, when I go to Orange Theory Fitness, uh, where I was earlier today.

And, uh, sometimes you go in and you say, today's a green day.

Like today's a zone three day.

I'm not going to get into zone four or five.

Like, I need to rest and recover today.

I'm wondering what you think about sort of helping my clients who are like trying to get into a routine.

They know they love something swimming, running, whatever it is.

And then just being so afraid that by over exercising, they're going to do something bad or negative for their journey.

What do you think about that?

Yeah.

I mean, I think the first thing, and you probably talk with them about this, but I think the first thing is to really bring any of the, you know, the concerning questions to their physicians that are working with them, because I think the with regard to this, I feel like the more information you have, the better things will feel.

Because when you have information, you're armed with like, okay, we've come up with a plan that feels good for everybody.

You know, we're all working together.

And I think keeping in mind that it really is about you and the team, um, and making sure you feel comfortable with what you're doing.

Another thing is I think that sometimes, especially people that do like really vigorous, super sweaty exercise, sometimes mindset wise, it can be really challenging to count, like we say, things that are maybe a little more gentle.

So maybe you are walking and walking absolutely counts as exercise.

Things like stretching, or yoga, or like working on mobility, you know, obviously, there may be some yoga poses that you need to discuss with your physician, but gentle stretching, these kind of activities absolutely count as movement.

And most of the time, I would say are considered generally safe at whatever stage that you're in, if you're preconception, if you're newly pregnant, if you're postpartum, I think these types of gentle activities can always be helpful, not only physically, because they help increase your flexibility, but mentally, because like my personal journey and other people that I've talked to along the way, stretching and is a very much like a mind body type of situation.

And so I think sometimes having that space where instead of it being a like, I'm going to sit and stay still and meditate, sometimes having a little bit of movement in there can help get some of those like, like those jitters out, but it also gives your brain time to rest and to just have space for that.

And so I think keeping in mind that those things absolutely count as movement, and also really embracing the phase of life that you're in, because it may be a phase of life where we're taking a break from the like pedal to the metal sprinting on the treadmill.

And we're going to do this for a minute.

And then at some point down the line, we're going to make a pivot and adjust again.

Yeah, I think that last point is so well taken because it's like, you know, this is the chapter, this is the phase of life.

And it's like, okay, well, maybe, you know, exercise needs to be a little bit less vigorous.

But it doesn't mean that what I can do doesn't count.

Right.

So I think kind of increasing that sort of, you know, I think about like, when I'm 70, what's my exercise journey going to look like then?

Like when I'm at these different phases, like I'm sure it's not going to look like it does today.

But you know, whatever I can invest in my physical and mental well being is not for not right.

Exactly.

So to your first point about like, ask your doctor and ask them what they think like, and I wear my REI hat all the time.

To be honest, I don't know anybody who truly knows what to say to that question, which I think is part of the problem is because we like kind of binaries.

We like, okay, this is what you should do and all will be well.

This is really like a data-free zone.

I've never seen a study that said, well, when these people did, you know, low, nothing versus low versus moderate versus vigorous, like there are these differences in fertility outcomes.

Like, you know, we know that eggs need energy to grow and we know that the fertility process is an expensive process, which is why, you know, like Olympians often will like start, you know, stop having their period, even if they have like a normal BMI, because the body is just expending so much energy to the, the athleticism and all of that.

So it is a little bit about energy expenditure.

And so we want to make sure that there's enough energy for the eggs and the fertility process.

I mean, there's even data that like women who have low BMIs actually do have lower embryo transfer rates, which isn't even about the, the eggs at all, because these are frozen embryo transfers.

So everything along the fertility spectrum, you know, growing the eggs during say an IVF cycle, having the embryo transfer, early pregnancy, it all takes extra energy.

And even if we're trying to replace colorectally and with protein and all that stuff, like sometimes the body recognizes that.

And so, you know, a lot of like people here listening were like, they used to be competitive athletes or marathon runners or, you know, various things.

And so I guess the question is like, how do we in a data-free zone, you know, counsel patients?

And I mean, what I, I can tell you what I do in my practice and, you know, both my coaching practice and my medical practice is I tell patients to listen to their body.

Cause I'm like, you know what?

Like, you know, if you want to go for a vigorous walk or a jog and that feels good to you, then fantastic.

But if your body is telling you to stop for any reason, whether it's just like overwhelming fatigue or, you know, you start to feel twinges in your lower abdomen, where your ovaries are, like that's a sign that maybe that's too much.

And so, I mean, I have the benefit of, I froze my eggs during my divorce.

So I did have the experience of like giving myself the meds and my ovaries getting big and all of that and trying to navigate exercise myself throughout that process.

It was tricky.

And I will say the thing that helped me the most in that time is like, listening to my body and, and, you know, after my retrieval, I tried to go running three days later.

My body hated me.

And I was like, Nope, Nope, not today.

I, and I'm going to wait.

But I think as REIs, we really don't have a ton of data to guide people.

So people go to the clinic, they get like this rope thing that says, okay, like no vigorous exercise until you get your next period, which is two weeks after the egg retrieval.

Let's be clear.

And you know, for all of us, we're like two weeks without exercise.

I'm going to die.

I cannot handle that.

So, you know, again, that's so I think there's that flexibility, like as REIs, we need to be a little bit more like trust your body, like every bit of physical activity does not result in an ovarian torsion.

Like maybe avoid certain yoga poses, like you say, but like I think there's maybe people can do more than we have typically allowed in the past because we as doctors are stuck in this binary thinking.

Yeah, absolutely.

And that's, and that's where I think like I, when I was practicing would always encourage my patients to really just talk about it.

Because a lot of times in many different areas, there's not a ton of concrete data to say one way or the other, but it's about having that conversation so that it's not a mindset of, well, this is what the paper said, but I'm going to do the opposite, you know, then it's like this inner struggle of like, oh boy, I'm not following the rules, where if you open up a dialogue about it, you can get more of that, like, okay, exactly what you just said, like, there's not a ton of data, but here's what we can do, we can have you do a little bit of something and listen and feel your body.

And I, I do think, you know, I've gotten that, I've gotten that from doctors and as the patient where doctors will say that.

And I remember when I was younger, feeling like, but I don't know, like, I don't know.

And I think that you just have to be patient and practice and listen, because over time, as you try different things, you will start to notice different feelings in your body, you just have to take the time to kind of like be aware of it.

And maybe even sometimes you're writing it down afterwards, like after you do whatever activity, just maybe make a little blip on your phone or on a paper so that you are becoming more aware of what those feelings are.

So you start to feel more confident in knowing how your body feels and what is a good versus, oh, maybe I should flow down and pump the brakes and take a rest here.

Yeah.

I think that, you know, that awareness, I think so many of us don't really give ourselves permission to take that time to tune in.

Yes.

A lot of us, myself, I'm raising my hand here, like, you know, intentionally busy ourselves, you know, maybe not like consciously to avoid the feelings and the murkiness that life presents, but maybe just kind of like, well, you know, I'm productive, I'm accomplished, I can get more done.

It feels that dopamine hit feels good to get stuff done, but then we don't leave space to process when a lot of what we actually need is in the processing and tuning into how we feel.

Yeah.

I think that's really, we've talked about journals before, even just having like a little journal to say like, I did, I jogged three miles today and this is how I felt and this is how I felt afterwards.

I think that's really wise.

So another question I want to ask you is like a lot of my clients and patients, they use exercise as a stress relief.

And the problem is that, you know, like I think people feel like they need to reach a certain threshold, like you said, the super sweaty or the dopamine hit in order to feel like they have sort of gotten that mental health benefit from it.

So do you like, I'm sure you help people too, who are like recovering from illnesses or, you know, maybe they're newly postpartum and they don't quite have, you know, so they're still healing.

They can't kind of run the marathon or wherever it is.

Like, how do you help people who use exercise for mental health stress relief when they feel there's a certain threshold for getting there, so to speak?

Yeah.

So I think, I mean, I really think the first part of that is mindset really before any activity.

It's really about, like I said, like redefining what exercise is for you.

And I think, you know, if you're, if you're staying tied to my mental health and my stress are better when I do this, but then you're in a phase where you can't do that physically for whatever recovery or whatever is happening, then you run into that where like, well, now I don't have that outlet anymore.

So I think taking a minute to really redefine it for your phase of life.

And sometimes that process can be really challenging because you do have this person that you maybe were, and now you're having to adjust that.

And so, I mean, from my personal experience, sometimes there's almost like a little bit of grief there because you are sort of like letting go of that.

And I think sometimes really owning and embracing the version of yourself that you are now and focusing and putting energy on like the leveling up moving forward as opposed to like, I want to go backwards, right?

Because backwards, we don't really, nobody wants to go backwards, but I think sometimes there's that struggle of this is who I used to be, but now you're a new version.

And so focusing on that and owning that, and maybe you're redefining it like, okay, while I'm doing IVF, here's what exercise looks like.

And like I said, the some of the gentler stuff, you can still absolutely see those mental health wins.

But if you're having the barrier of it doesn't count, or it's not worth it, that's going to get in the way.

So I think taking the time to do that mindset work first.

And I think the way to really do that is, you know, again, journal, phone, whatever it is, but like celebrating your win.

So whatever it is, I showed up today and I did a five minute stretch.

I am amazing because I was able to do that.

I showed up today and I did a 10 minute meditation or I walked up and down the stairs a few flights instead of taking the elevator, you know, it doesn't have to be these humongous things.

But celebrating those wins and writing them down helps you build confidence that you're moving towards what you want.

And I think taking the time to do that and really sitting in those gentler exercises will help with the mental health part of it.

I mean, just as an example, I had times in residency where it was like, you know, all the things, right, you're getting like a bunch of admissions at the same time, there's people in different parts of the hospital that are trying to die.

And you're like, Oh my gosh, like there were a few times where I was like, Okay, I'm going to do a child pose for five minutes just to like regroup, because sometimes just getting into a stretch and doing some deep breathing helps you connect with your nervous system in a way that helps it slow down, which can provide those mental health benefits, in addition to the flexibility that you're getting.

Oh my gosh, Sarah.

I mean, I got emotional when you were saying I don't know if you can see like the tears through the zoom screen, but like, so that I wanted to call out a couple of things that you just said.

So the first thing that I found so powerful, which really got me well up with tears was that you said that this is really about an identity shift.

So you know, they say like, you know, because people know my story, I'm divorced, and they say, Okay, if you're thinking about a new relationship, you need to clear out space to then welcome in the new.

And they say, Okay, declutter your home, and then buy things in pairs, like maybe buy like a pair of chairs or like a pair of these things, because you're starting to think about your life as a partner in person.

I think the same is true for this journey.

So like, this applies to so many things like, you know, if somebody has a job where they're working 100 hours a week as a busy surgeon, and they're like, and I also want to be a mom, and I'm trying to fit in these fertility treatments.

From my perspective, it's not just about saying, Okay, well, I'm going to keep my 100 hour week the same and then find a way to add in these treatments.

It's like, well, is this crazy busy job going to work with my life being a mother?

And how can I redefine my identity?

So I'm starting to be that person now.

And maybe that's talking with your chief and saying like, you know, we need more support, or maybe it's dropping to part time, I have a lot of ER doctors who have, you know, really gone to per diem, instead of having like a required set of shifts, but it's about welcoming in that space ahead of time and that identity shift of like, okay, well, when I'm a pregnant person, when I'm a new mom, like, this is also going to look different.

And so I am letting go that grief, like you said, Oh, my gosh, so amazing.

I'm going to let go of that idea of my previous identity so I can grow into the newer, better version of myself.

And more evolved, right?

This is all about evolving and learning lessons.

And again, that's not a value judgment.

If you become a mom, you're a better person than not.

But it's I even say to my coaching clients, even if this does not work out for you, of course, it's my goal that it does for every single person.

But even if it doesn't, there will be more life things that happen.

And I want you to have more tools to be able to navigate those trials and tribulations.

And so that brings up my second sort of point that I pulled out of what you said is that we're this is actually not about just saying, okay, well, exercise is my one tool for release in mental health.

And I'm going to just figure out a way that I can overcome the system to get that dopamine hit.

It's actually about saying like, okay, well, that has worked for me in the past, maybe there's a way that that can be part of my life right now.

And why don't I diversify my tools?

Why don't I figure out how a child's pose for five minutes can help me maybe that awareness, maybe I'm exercising so hard, because I use it as an avoidance tactic.

Like I've done that before.

Like I, you know, maybe that's how I zone out and avoid my feelings instead of sort of face them.

Again, that's a very individual thing.

But like, maybe by sitting with the feelings and the thoughts and all that, like, maybe exercise is not needed so much in that capacity, because we're emotionally processing and doing those other things.

And so I don't know, I just I see this as like an opportunity to figure out how meaningful movement can evolve in the context of an evolving human and evolving identity.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I, I think the point that you just said about almost using exercise as an avoidant tactic, like, I have noticed that when I was a runner, when I was younger, it was always like, get out there.

And I was like, you know, huffing puffing, like gasping for breath.

And I realized when I started doing more like conversational paced runs, like running where I could be chit chatting, it felt really slow.

But I found that in the beginning to be incredibly uncomfortable.

And I couldn't quite pinpoint it until I realized it was because my brain was able to think about other things, aside from just my breathing.

And so that was time where I was sitting with myself, exercising, doing something wonderful for my body.

But my brain was like, like that I was, I had time to think there.

And I think for me, like sitting in that uncomfortableness, sitting in that discomfort was actually a really great area for growth and development, because it was a time to learn how to process some emotions and think about things.

And I think that's another layer that a lot of your listeners could could get out of maybe having to adjust to a more gentler thing, because you are it almost forces your brain to slow down, as your body is is slowing down.

And then you you work on having that space to really process your thoughts and and think.

That is so powerful.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

That has been my experience too.

And so I would say like, when I think about exercise for myself, I think about is this an act of self love, or is this an act of self punishment, right?

Where I just didn't try to tune out.

And if it's an act of self punishment, I mean, I'm all about mindful self compassion.

I'm like, okay, well, then even though I think that might make me feel better in one sense, it's going to make me feel worse in a different sense.

And so I'm not going to go there.

Not today.

Maybe I take a walk, maybe I do some yoga, maybe I do something else that shows me that's an act of love, not like this act of masochism.

And like, yeah, because I think that is the double edged sort of exercise is like, a lot of us have like, gotten to where we are, because we've tolerated the pain, and we've like suffered and, you know, all that competitive stuff.

So I think it's like, how do we do like, introduce self compassion into this process, to then help us make our decisions?

Yeah, absolutely.

So interesting.

So, so let's talk about a little bit.

So, you know, I think that's just so powerful, what we just talked about, like, what are the ways because I also have people who come to me and say, like, I used to exercise, but with like being in attending and, you know, in this busy fertility center, like, I mean, I think even those two things together being in attending and going to all the fertility appointments and all that stuff, like that in and of itself, it's like fertility is like a part time job, if not a full time job.

So like, then people say, well, I used to exercise a lot, but like, you know, I've just gotten out of my routine, and I just don't do anything anymore.

And I know I need to get back into it.

I think I'll get back into it after this whole thing.

But like, what would you tell those people about sort of, like, how to kind of reintroduce exercise when that whole area is like, nothing's happening?

Yeah.

So I think the biggest thing is making the goal very achievable, like almost where you know, you will achieve them, which sometimes is counter to what we talk about with gold, right?

Like, everybody wants to have a stretch goal, you want it to be ripped.

But I think in in this specific arena, especially if it's somebody that was an athlete before, and now is doing not a whole lot, but wants to be doing more, I think making the bar as low as possible, to take action.

And then as you see that you're a little bit above the bar, it builds confidence.

And then you can raise the bar accordingly.

But I think that initial entry point, it needs to be almost zero barrier.

So for me, I think I always talk about trying to do something for one minute a day.

And it's no, like, no socks, no shoes, you don't you're in your pajamas, like whatever it is, it doesn't have to be a thing where you're getting into different clothes or anything like that, but literally doing something for one minute.

So depending on what time of day works for you, like it could be you wake up, and you get up and you march in place for one minute, or you do two different stretches for 30 seconds.

But just doing something for one minute every single day, and then writing it down, whether it be physically or in your phone, and recording it, those two acts combined together, help build the confidence.

And it tells your brain that you are a person that prioritizes exercise and moving.

And you're going to have those thoughts initially of but I'm not doing something for 30 minutes, and I'm not sweating, and I'm not wearing my sports bra and sneakers, you're going to have those thoughts.

But that's okay, like, just trust the process and keep going because over time, it will it will help your brain and your identity will start to shift where it's like, I am this person that shows up and moves.

And maybe after you do it for two weeks, you're like, Oh, I can do it for longer.

Or you're in that minute, and you have time and you're like, well, I'm already here, I'm doing it, let me do it for two minutes, you know, it starts to build on itself.

But that's how I would recommend getting started.

And then, you know, you can progress and raise the bar accordingly.

I think that's really, really wise.

And I mean, I this is so funny, because I adore exercise, I have thought about it many different ways at different points in my life in my career, I have never heard it said out loud that you do not need to be wearing a sports bra for exercise.

So can you just say that one more time for the listeners?

You do not have to wear a sports bra.

And it's this funny beat that that you got.

So I that was a huge barrier for me in the past.

And I just thought it was just me like, I was like, whatever, I guess, you know, it took me a lot of time to be okay with doing something in a regular bra or a nighttime bra or no bra.

And it's funny, because one of my clients recently said, like, I think you need to make workouts that are braless, sockless and shoeless, because these are real barriers for people.

And then I was like, Oh, maybe I'm not the only one who found this to be a barrier.

Well, right, we talk about coaching and like limiting beliefs.

And then like, I think you just uncovered one of mine.

And I'm getting like a little better, admittedly, and like a walk is exercise.

And you know, I just try to move my body a little bit every day.

But like, I think a part of me really unconsciously believed that like a workout involves a sports bra.

And I, yeah, I really think that's gonna help me.

And I, I can just tell a lot of my listeners moving forward that like, wow, like we actually don't need like a sports bra, shoes, socks, a bathing suit, like whatever it is, like, right, as long as we are doing mindful movement, even for just a minute a day, just a minute a day, and then recording it.

And I think you're so right about that, because I have been recording sort of my three intentions for the day.

And then like the wins, I think if there's a book about it, that I just read.

And you know, when I think about, okay, like what, when I can see that string of like, okay, look at what you've done.

And a lot of us are wired that way.

It's like, some days we get to the end of the day, we're like, well, what did I do?

It was like a shit show and like whatever else.

And but when we can actually say like, I prioritize myself today, I took care of myself, I moved for, you know, a minute, like even in, I will tell you personally, like yesterday, I was, I was like thinking this as apropos and in preparation for this talk, like I, you know, had a certain goal, right?

Again, let's talk about this, like how we get in trouble with our goals.

But I just truly didn't have time to, you know, to run the amount that I wanted to run.

And so, I mean, I think I was like, well, I'm going to run like four or five miles.

And that's going to be my plan because I'm like trying to keep up and I'm meeting a friend for a race in a few months and all these things.

But I truly only had time for two miles, right?

But it was an amazing two miles.

And so can I think that's very relatable?

Like, can you sort of speak to that for the listeners?

Like, say you have a plan for one day, and you end up getting derailed, and you end up doing something like less than what you expected.

How does mindset play into that sort of a scenario to like reframe and still celebrate and see it as a win and not as a failure?

Yeah, I mean, I think like you said, writing it down and then reflecting on that when you're in those moments of like, like you had yesterday, but you go and you look and you're like, but look at all these times I showed up, like it still counts, even if you have to do like what I call a backup workout, where maybe the workout you had planned is not going to be possible for whatever reason, you're sick, it's raining, it's snowing, the kids are, you know, whatever it is, whatever barrier there is there, it's the showing up that matters.

So if you can only show up for a minute that day, you still showed up, right?

And that's huge.

And there may be a day where you can't show up for whatever reason.

That's also okay.

You give yourself grace and just pick it back up the next day, you know, the next day and you get back on there.

I think the biggest thing because I'm like, I took one for the team here.

So when I was a brand new attending, I was walking our dogs, we have two dogs, I was walking them every day for like 30, 40, sometimes 45 minutes a day.

But I counted that as walking the dogs, I did not count it as exercise.

And then every day I in my the mindset process was you're a failure, you're not exercising, you're not sweaty, you don't have your sports bra on when you're doing that walk.

So that doesn't count as prioritizing your health.

And so that was the story that I told myself.

And for months to years, it was like, I that's what that was my thinking, like, I'm a failure, because I can't figure out how to exercise.

But then when you talk to people, they're like, Oh, my gosh, you are walking for 30 minutes a day, like, that's amazing.

And so I think it's really about the recording, showing up and then reflecting on that.

And that over time, you will become okay with having to make those pivot.

Occasionally.

Yeah, I think that makes so much sense.

A lot of it is the reframe, like, you know, 30 minutes a day is better than no minutes a day.

And that actually is moving the body.

And I mean, there's even evidence, like one of my three pillars is evidence based, there's actually, you know, evidence that, you know, exercise when we don't sweat counts, you know, and, you know, if we're trying to sort of say, Okay, like, well, you know, how does this contribute to my overall health?

And am I being a healthy person?

I think a lot of us want to be healthy people.

Just sort of that reframe and how we look at it can really, really make or break, whether we continue on, whether we see ourselves as a failure or a success.

And just how we sort of approach ourselves on a day to day basis, like a lot of this I'm realizing in coaching is turning that inner critic that we have into an inner coach.

And yes, I think we all need, I mean, gosh, I love my coaches.

I have so many coaches.

Yeah.

I self, but like, I also think that one thing I've noticed about myself over time with all this coaching is that my inner critic is like the teeniest, tiniest voice now.

And my inner coach is like the path of least resistance.

And so, you know, I think that, you know, as an exercise coach, right, you know, helping busy physicians and busy people, because you, you help people, you, do you specifically focus on physicians?

Do you, you focus on busy people building their families?

Yeah.

I'm so new at this.

I'm not sure yet.

I'm helping all the people.

Yeah.

But definitely certainly physicians and other, you know, professionals that are wanting to move more, for sure.

Yeah.

Because I think it's one of those things, like, how can we like see ourselves in a beautiful light?

Like, I think one of the questions that comes up so much is like, am I doing this right?

Right.

So this is kind of, I've, I'm going to extend this into a series about like, you know, I already did one on sleep and this is about, you know, exercise, but like, you know, eating food, right?

Like are we eating right for the fertility journey?

And people ask all the time about sexual activity.

Like, am I doing that right?

Like, again, hurry up and wait, have sex now.

Don't have sex.

Like, you know, you're just starting to live your life.

And then there's all these external rules.

And so I do think that if we can coach ourselves lovingly every single day and like show ourselves that we are good people doing our best, there are many ways to do it right.

There's not just one way that there's many ways that yes, yes, yes, you are doing it right.

Right.

And, and there's many different ways to do that.

I think then we can just have these fuller, richer lives when they're not so mired in, you know, negativity, self judgment and criticism.

Yeah.

And I think, you know, I think a lot of times, sometimes it can feel overwhelming to have all these different areas that you're focusing on.

And so a lot of times what I'll recommend is, like whichever one feels like the least barriers exist, work on that because a lot of the things you mentioned, like sleep, movement, nutrition, they're all tied together.

And so a lot of times you'll notice, like, when you start moving more, you tend to gravitate towards maybe foods that are fresher and more whole food and less processed.

And you're wanting to eat fruits and vegetables without it being quite as intentional and needing to put that energy into it.

Same thing with sleep.

And it, it doesn't have to be that you choose movement first.

But the idea is, whichever one you choose, a lot of times it will spread to the other areas almost unintentionally.

And then you can, you know, take time to work on each of those things.

Oh, Sarah, I love that you said that because I think sometimes we're like, okay, we got the checklist and there's that meme in my drinking this much water a day.

Am I eating good food?

Am I exercising?

Am I sleeping?

Am I texting all the people back?

You know, that's my favorite.

Am I like, check, check, check, check, check.

And then if we like, you know, we're like, Oh my gosh, I'm failing.

I like missed two text messages today, like whatever.

But like, you're right.

Like I think a lot of these things do promote each other.

And, you know, it's just sort of like, just like I talk about fertility coaching, it's just the access point.

So if you sort of have an access point of intentionally moving more, then that's going to spill out into other things, sleep, nutrition, relationships, the fertility journey.

And it's just going to allow for like a happier, more peaceful existence, which at the end of the day, again, like my goal is for all my clients to get pregnant and my patients.

And even broader than that, I want people to live a fulfilling life.

And I think that's what you're doing with your work is you're helping people reclaim their, reclaim their lives again, which is, I mean, I have goosebumps just thinking about it.

I mean, that is the power in this is like, you know, people think they're stuck.

They think that they can exercise.

I think that that they're have to follow all these rules about exercise.

And then that causes more anxiety.

Like there are so many right ways to do this and we really can reclaim our lives.

It's just like biggest steps and growing on it in the context of a mindset that works.

And I think, I think having a supportive coach, you know, really makes a big difference.

Yeah, absolutely.

So wonderful.

And so, you know, one thing I love about your work is that you really do focus on full spectrum coaching.

And so, you know, preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, you know, all those things.

And so, you know, as I coach my clients and they start to graduate, thankfully, there's just been a lot of pregnancies, 11 science and deliveries.

And, you know, I always say, okay, people who believe in coaching believe in coaching in other areas.

And so, you know, if people sort of are already working with me, they're listening to this, they're on the fertility journeys.

Maybe if they're not even not working with me, but they're like, you know what, my intentions would be a pregnant person.

And then they're faced with all these new challenges.

You know, once they get to that point, where can people find you to follow you, listen to you, work with you potentially, I really want to connect my people with you because what you're doing is like the next obvious thing in terms of this journey.

Yeah, absolutely.

I appreciate that so much.

So I am Dr.

Sarah Ionescu everywhere.

So it's D-R-S-A-R-A I-O-N-E-S-C-U.

So that's Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

And people can feel free to message me those places.

I also have a website, which is the same as Dr.

Sarah Ionescu.com.

I don't have any way specifically to sign up to work with me just yet.

But I do have an email list that I'm creating.

So that would be a place to go if you want to get more information as I kind of iron things out, you can definitely sign up for my email list there.

Yeah.

What do you think your timeline is for having a direct portal?

Yeah, I don't, hopefully ASAP.

Yeah.

One of the things about this is I think people they need what you're doing.

And so, you know, and I think this is one of the cool things about being a coach in the community, all those things like, you know, if it is your intention to start this up even in the next month or so, I will offer all the support, all my wisdom and knowledge of those streamlines because I mean, gosh, I think, you know, once you really get started, I think you're going to be turning people away because this is truly what people need.

So, thank you so much.

Yeah, you're welcome.

So thank you so much.

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited too.

And you know, it's just amazing.

Cause like even yesterday I was like, Dr.

Sarah would be so proud of me in this moment.

I don't know.

Like you think about, okay, myself six months ago would have like acted very differently about this or myself 12 months ago.

And that's how we recognize that we're growing and we surround ourselves with people who are inspiring and self-compassionate and loving.

And so I'm so grateful for your friendship and for your, you know, camaraderie and all the things, because I think what we can do together is way more powerful than what we can do alone.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I appreciate that.

And we'll, we'll shoot for a month, but you've been, I love it.

We'll hold you to it.

We're working on it.

Okay.

My friend.

Well, thanks again for spending your time with me.

I'll make sure all your social stuff is in the show notes and until the next time, be well.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye.