Q&A with Stephanie Paver, RD

Stephanie Paver is a Registered Dietitian focused on PCOS, infertility, and women’s health. She focuses on nutrition-centered whole body care to help clients re-balance their bodies without the use of pharmaceuticals. Learn more about what it’s like to work with Stephanie and to get a taste of how RDs can help re-balance your hormones.

If Stephanie’s style and focus areas resonate with you, you can book a free discovery call here.

What does your practice focus on?

My practice focuses on teaching women with PCOS how to discover the diet that works for them and then to sustainably leverage their diet and lifestyle to remediate their symptoms.

Dieting is not the answer to PCOS, and nutrition is only part of the solution. We need to look at the entire lifestyle.

Sometimes we need to dig deeper and do comprehensive testing to understand what is going on metabolically and biochemically.

In many cases, these patients are also on a journey to conceive, or to validate that they capable of conceiving when the time comes. I partner with these ladies to help them achieve their pregnancy goals by applying the same concepts of lifestyle medicine.

What drew you to women’s health?

The first personal “incident” I had was when I stopped birth control and my period stopped. I was concerned that this was not normal, yet I wasn’t getting any explanation as to why this was happening. Also, at that time, I was having gut issues such as severe bloating and weight gain. My clothes didn’t fit!

When I saw an ND (naturopathic doctor), she suspected I had PCOS. I never followed up with her, but the entire experience made me realize how little I knew about my body, my menstrual cycle, and how sensitive hormones are to lifestyle choices.

After this experience, I started serendipitously working with PCOS cases here and there. I realized how big a gap there was in the appropriate treatment. I had one 26 year old working out 6 days a week and eating only 1000 calories. When she was not losing weight, her doctor told her to cut calories even more. This makes me outraged and very motivated to provide these women with compassionate care and a roadmap to success that works.

What are your credentials, and what scope of work falls within each of these?

MS, RD, CSO, CNSC (side note: my CSO and CNSC will expire next year, and I won’t be pursuing recertification b/c they don’t align with my current career trajectory).

I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RD or RDN) who is qualified to give personalized nutrition and diet recommendations for acute and chronic illness as well for disease prevention.

I practice as a functional dietitian using a full body systems approach and am working toward certification for this practice area.

When did you decide you wanted to become an RD?

As a competitive figure skater who trained on and off the ice, I realized a connection early on between what I ate and my performance. The days I had the biggest jumps, most solid landings and best energy were the days that I ate full meals with a lot of protein. I always had an intuitive understanding that what I ate was important, no matter my size (meaning it is not a smart strategy to think I could eat whatever I want just because I’m thin).

In what instances should a patient consider seeing a dietitian?

There are many!

• Unexplained weight gain and/or inability to lose weight
• Inability to gain weight
• Disease prevention
• Proper aging
• To optimize sports performance (I have worked with adult athletes in these areas: dancing, marathon running, swimming, short distance running, biking, and equestrian)
• Chronic gut issues
• Celiac disease
• Persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headache, PMS, mood swings, hair loss, irregular periods, anxiety, acne
• PCOS!
• Infertility
• Preconception planning
• To get an audit on your general health

…and that’s just to name a few!

What would you recommend those who want to dip their toes in more holistic healthcare?

Choosing a healthcare provider is no different than choosing a hair stylist. You must trust this person. I recommend trying out different providers. Interview them and ask questions such as “are you willing to work with me as a partner in my health?”, “do you have experience working with my condition”, “what’s a general overview of a treatment roadmap to healing?”

Do you focus on any subspecialties within women’s health?

Yes! I focus on PCOS, infertility, and pregnancy planning. I also have many patients with combination conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis and PCOS and autoimmune disease.

What’s the first thing you tackle with your clients, and how long before you see results?

It depends on the top priority. If we need to fix the gut first (e.g., bloating, constipation), then they can expect to start pooping easily and regularly within the first few visits. If fatigue is the main issue, then they can expect to start feeling more energy within a few weeks.

How long do you generally see a client for?

The minimum starting commitment is typically 12 weeks. Some patients continue to work with me for 6 months to 2 years or more. It depends on what someone needs and the level of support they want to continue to have from me. I have patients whom I helped get pregnant and then continued to support throughout their entire pregnancy.

What tests and treatment methods do you gravitate toward?

The tests I leverage the most often are DUTCH, and Genova Diagnostics NutraEval and Stool Testing.

For treatment, I start with the diet and some supplementation. Nutrition is like a fingerprint; it is very unique to the individual.

Once we dial in on the diet, we build from here. We look at other lifestyle factors such as sleep, exercise, and stress. I recommend strategies such as meal planning, mental planning (thinking about what you’re going to order if you’re not preparing meals from scratch), establishing a sleep routine and relaxation techniques such deep breathing and meditation; we evaluate the barriers to exercise, explore activities that are appealing and find routines that require the least amount of effort.

Additionally, I often refer my patients to therapy and acupuncture. I have many referral partners in Phoenix and Sacramento.

What are some of your favorite tips and tricks for managing a hormonal imbalance?

Keep a journal. It’s important to gather the data on food intake, symptoms, lifestyle factors (sleep, bowel movements, stress, anxiety, etc) and cycle tracking. This is the information that we can use to analyze trends and then make actionable changes.

The most common feedback I get from patients is that by working with me, they learned how to listen to their body, and they have better awareness about what their body is telling them. They are also more empowered to take what they need, and they learn to acknowledge small wins.

Another important tip is to “go small.” Pick just ONE thing you want to change or work on. If you decide your diet needs to be improved, what is ONE thing you can do differently? If you want to add more fiber, choose ONE action item such as “add ONE serving of vegetables to dinner every night.” Track your success. If you don’t measure it, you cannot improve on it. This is essential to holding yourself accountable and to measuring how successful you’ve been. If you find that hit your goal 70% (5 out of 7 nights) of the time, this is a great success rate. What can you do to increase it to 80% next week?

While you are making this change, evaluate for any changes in bowel movements or energy. Maybe you find that you snack less after meals. All of this information counts!

This process requires a systematic approach and an objective analysis of the information. It can feel overwhelming, which is where I can step in to help.

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