Navigating PMDD and Postpartum Hormones

After giving birth to her second child in less than two years, Regan Staderman was having a hard time dialing in her nutrition.

Seven months postpartum, she weighed 200 pounds, 40 pounds heavier than her pre-pregnancy weight.

“When I was pregnant, whatever craving hit me, I just had to have it, so my healthy habits went out the window and it was hard to break that cycle,” she said.

Regan was also diagnosed with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). PMDD is a difficult disorder where the week before her period, her estrogen would crash, her cortisol would spike, and depression would hit.

In the past, macro counting had worked for her short-term, but she knew it wasn’t the approach she wanted to take this time.

**“I didn’t want to track macros anymore. **With two children under two years old, I didn’t have time to weigh everything and log it and track it. It wasn’t my thing anymore, and when I did it before, I got tired of it,” Regan said.

She further explained: “But, I did want to get back to healthy habits and lose some weight and get my nutrition back on track.”

CBG to the Rescue

One year ago, in March 2025, Regan decided to hire a CBG nutrition coach.

She was teamed up with Coach Kali Butler. Coach Butler illustrated the CBG blueprint approach to Regan and how it does not rely on tracking macros of weighing food.

Regan’s weight didn’t come down immediately, but “right away, my energy was better, and my sleep and recovery, too,” she said.

However, after a month into the CBG program, Regan was excited to discover that she had started losing weight.

After the initial 16-week program, Regan was down 20 pounds. She was happy to say that the next 20 pounds “just started falling off”.

“My body was finally like, ‘Oh, now we know what to do again,’” she added.

Today, Regan is eating more than she was when she was 40 pounds heavier and is back to her pre-pregnancy weight of 160 to 165 pounds. Another benefit was that everything has become easier in the gym. In fact, at 32, Regan trains five to six times a week and says she feels like she’s fitter than she has ever been.

“My endurance is better, I feel stronger, and also I feel like I can push myself more. I think with delivering babies and postpartum, it changes your mindset on things, and has made me feel like I know I’m capable of more. But yeah, I also do feel physically stronger, faster and have better endurance.”

Next Up for Regan

Regan has two months left with Coach Butler and is prepared to take what she has learned and continue having success on her own.

“I feel like [Coach Butler] has given me the tools to be able to continue. Everything [Coach Butler] has taught me, like carb timing and meal timing, has been so helpful,” Regan praised.

Her relationship with food has also improved.

When Regan tracked her macros, she was “so fixated,” she explained. She would feel guilty if she ate something she wasn’t supposed to. But this is no longer the case with her approach to nutrition today.

“Now I don’t feel guilty, and I see food as an energy source to fuel myself and have the energy to be healthy,” she said.

Regan added: “I have genuinely enjoyed the journey, too. I feel like people think that they need to track and log to lose weight, but you don’t. And if you learn what CBG teaches, you can lose weight without having to log and track. And, it’s less stressful, too.”