Living With PCOS: Inside Candice Craig’s Path to Healing and Motherhood

There’s nothing like quality time with a best friend. On this week’s Let’s Try This Again, B. Simone welcomes her “westie bestie,” Candice Craig for a conversation about motherhood, health battles, and new beginnings. Wife, mom, author, and artist, Craig gets candid about her postpartum journey and celebrating this new season—messiness and all. 

“I’ve thought about being a mom and a wife my whole entire life, but until you’re in it, you just don’t know,” Craig explains. As a PCOS advocate, Craig uses her platform to educate and support women all over the world who suffer from the chronic condition. 

The two friends, both OGs in the influencer space, dive deep into Craig’s journey of becoming a wife and a mom in the same year, letting go of social media validation, and finding the discipline to succeed while staying humble enough to start over in every season of life. 

The Truth About Motherhood 

At nearly eleven months into motherhood, Craig is still figuring it out and working through kinks. The process of leaving the house now starts the night before: prepping bottles, packing the baby bag, getting her daughter showered, and making sure the baby is good. “It just takes two hours to get out of the house. And that’s not even me getting ready,” Craig shares. “I’m just making sure that the baby’s good, which was a huge shift for me. I’m about to be 11 months into motherhood. You would think that I would have some type of routine and that I would have gotten my stuff together.”

When Craig became a mom, she didn’t allow her life to stop. Simone celebrates her self-care journey: “That’s what I like about you. When you became a mom, you were like ‘I’m not stopping.’ You’re having dance classes here in LA. You’re not stopping doing your makeup, your hair, and your nails.”

While Craig initially thought she’d have a routine by month three, it wasn’t until now, the ten-month mark, that she began finding some normalcy. “Putting on jeans is still not a thing for me. Like I’m still very much in the thick of it,” she adds.

As a new mom, the greatest tool in Craig’s arsenal has been asking for help. “Without the village, I don’t know how people do it.”

Simone agrees: “So many moms are trying to do it on their own. Of course. you have to budget for a nanny and a sleep trainer, but put the money towards help. You don’t have to be supermom and feel like ‘I’m doing this on my own.’” 

Life as a Mom With PCOS

As a dancer and influencer, Craig has always prioritized health and wellness. After her PCOS diagnosis, she began dealing with acne breakouts, irregular periods, and uncontrollable weight gain. The most difficult symptom for Craig: potentially not being able to have children.

When she learned that PCOS is the number one cause of infertility for women, she was devastated. “I’ve always wanted to be a wife and mother. I refused to let that be my story, but a lot of people are still dealing with that. In that moment, I decided to become my own health advocate.” 

At that point, she and her now-husband, Omar Bolden, decided to try a year-long detox, cutting out toxic elements from their diet, environment, and mindset. “We chose things that are going to enrich our lives and be living water. It was just really just us locking in on putting things in our bodies that would help them regenerate.” 

Craig shares her journey in her book, Living with PCOS: Road to Reversal, which incorporates insight from scientists, doctors, and skin specialists. She even took the discussion all the way to the Congress. 

Despite her PCOS diagnosis, Craig shares how grateful is to have been able to get pregnant on the second try. Motherhood has been the greatest gift: “Even though motherhood has flipped me on my ass, it’s been the best flip. it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but in the same token, it’s the best gift of life. I look at her, and I just, I’ve never looked at something and wanted to just cry.” 

The Grace of Starting Over

Today, Craig is approaching her wellness routine with a new perspective and openly shares about her weight loss journey. “If I need to drop a couple of pounds, I would usually know how to do that, but with PCOS, it’s the opposite… Don’t get me started on my body. Don’t get me started on what I look like because that’s like the last thing we care about as a mom.”

Whether it’s diet, exercise, or mindset, starting over as a woman and mom can be difficult. Craig has found strength in the community of women supporting her. “It’s the women and the community that I’ve built, honestly. They have made me feel comfortable being able to talk and speak out like this.” Craig says, reflecting on her health challenges.

Craig and Simone talk about medication weight loss options, specifically for women with PCOS. “The big thing with medication is it’s a Band-Aid. I’m not against it, but at the same time, there’s other alternatives that you could use to really heal naturally.”

They agree that while it’s a good starting point, it’s not going to last. “We do know that herbs, eating right, exercising, and cutting all the toxicity out of your life, we know what that can get you,” Candice adds. 

Listen to the rest of B. Simone and Craig’s conversation on the Let’s Try This Again podcast.