It's been over a year since I've posted. I've gone above 180 pounds, but I'm back down to 170. I am batteling eating grains since they obviously make me gain weight. My goal is still 155.

Today I am 165 lbs which is only 10 lbs from my goal. I went through the closet yesterday and got rid of a few more things. I hope to have no XL or XXL clothes left by summer. I am not buying many items because I want to wait till I am at goal and the clothes fit.

I had a great time yesterday going through my closet and tossing clothes that no longer fit. There was one outfit I never wore, but it's huge on me now. I really need to go shopping, but so close to my goal, I hate to buy clothes that will be very loose (hopefully) in a few months. The Metformin has been wonderful at accelerating my weight loss.

In 2002 I was:
Weight: 230 pounds
Shirt size 2X
Pant size 18/20 relaxed fit

I am now:
Weight: 167 pounds
Shirt size: Large
Pants size: 16

Thank you to the lady who left me a postive comment! I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier. Thanks for the support! It is exciting to see the weight drop off, but I have been very excited over having to get rid of clothes that are now baggy on me. It proves the scales are not wrong.

I do not have an exercise routine. I have very little energy most days, though I am better on the Met. and after the weight loss. Unless I go shopping, I really do not get any walking in. I know I need to get out and get more exercise, but currently I haven't made it a priority. I recently got back my choloesterol results and everything was normal. That is good, but it really does make me less likely to exercise more than I am.

Today is October 5, and I'm coming upon my three year anniversary since I was diagnosed with PCOS and started a diet that I have actually stuck to every single day. I stepped on the scales today and I'm amazed that it said 173. I am only 18 pounds from my goal weight. I want to be comfortably wearing size 16 pants by January, but time will tell. We are probably going to have a big family dinner this year and I want to look as good as I already feel.

Shopping for new clothes has been a great side effect to dropping so much weight. I really don't have many things to wear now. I have two pairs of jeans that really don't fit well, two dresses that fit well, a few XLarge t-shirts and 4 or 5 sweaters. I have recently bought two pair of shoes, but my old ones are all way too big to wear. I bought two new skirts for church, but one already needs a belt. It took me months to find skirts long enough, now they are a size too big. At least my winter coat still fits.

Almost another year has gone by and today I decided to add wheat bread to my diet. I had my first slice of bread in almost three years. I had two big burgers on horrible tasting wheat bread, but at least it felt like a normal meal.

I have been diagnosed with Insulin Resistance and have been on 1500mg of Met. for over two weeks. I have lost and keep regaining the same three pounds. On my thinner days I'm 183 pounds. My husband said I look like I have lost weight, but I didn't think I had lost enough to notice in the last year. I am now wearing size 8 and 1/2 W shoes for the first time in my life. I was up to a size 11 for a while. I'm in 16/18 pants, but still wearing size XL shirts. My goal is still size 14 clothes and 155 pounds.

I have lost another four pounds, and the carb cravings of last week are gone. I sat at supper tonight with a plate full of bread and homemade potato chips and didn't eat either. Not even a bite. I'm a little amazed that I didn't want either of them at all.

Today I started reading Living With PCOS by Boss, Sterling and Legro. I keep seeing myself in those pages, all my symptoms and past fears and embarrassing moments. When I was about 14 a boy next to me in class wanted to know why my elbows were so dark. He thought I never washed them. I was so ashamed that they were dirty, and tried scrubbing them often after that. I didn't know this was a symptom of PCOS. So far, I've had all these symptoms, though some have gone away:

• Acanthosis nigricans ("dirty skin")
• Migraines (Which have almost completely disappeared)
• Hirsutism (Unwanted hair growth)
• Excess abdominal weight
• Mood swings
• Easy weight gain, even when exercising
• Unable to loose all my excess weight even when on a starvation diet
• irritability and aggression
• Acne, even in adulthood

As of yet, I still have not had any blood tests to determine how severe my PCOS problems really are. I keep thinking that if I can keep loosing weight, and don't have any more symptoms than those listed above, that I will avoid any of the worst PCOS-related diseases.

I am now 189 pounds and still loosing. I am cleaning out my closet and getting rid of clothes that are to big, because I have no intention of weighing 230 ever again.

I have broken the 200 barrier, and am around 195. This is the least I have been in about four years.

The Media and PCOS


This article lists some of the symptoms of PCOS including weight gain. It does not mention fatigue.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6227116

This article says pretty much the same thing.

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hspoly124003870oct12,0,5442872.story?coll=ny-health-headlines

Adkins & Pregnancy:

Recently I received a comment on this blog from someone saying she was going to stay on Adkins contrary to her doctor's opinion, because she thought I had done that. I have never been on Adkins, and have never met a doctor who would approve Adkins for a pregnant woman. The entire time I was pregnant I followed my OB and GP's advice on diet. Both stressed the need for fresh fruits and veggies for our growing, unborn little one. Both stated that if a pregnant woman does not ingest the proper nutrients for her baby, the child will begin to strip those vitamins from the woman's body. When the baby needs calcium, she needs calcium, even if she has to weaken your bones to get it. It's never a good idea to go contrary to your doctor's opinion, unless your doctor is giving advice detrimental to your unborn child or to you. Then, instead of just ignoring your GP or OB, you should seek a new one.

The diet I have followed is restrictive only in those things I listed in a previous post. I don't restrict my fresh fruit and veggie intake (except for taters) because they contain live sustaining nutrients. A primarily meat diet is not recommended for pregnant women because unborn babies need a variety of vitamins readily available in fresh fruit and veggies. I think I kept a small banana farm in business during my pregnancy. I ate about four large bananas a day, sometimes more. For nine months I ate buckets of pears, apples, broccoli, pineapple, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and washed it all down with gallons of grape and apple juice. I drank gallons of milk and ate over a dozen large containers of cottage cheese. I would often eat half a container of "no sugar added" ice cream at a sitting, sometimes twice a day, almost every day for over a month. Often I would mix in fresh fruit with this and top with whole milk. My hubby, along with my OB nurse were very shocked to find that I gained just the right amount of weight and lost 95% of my baby weight gain in 6 weeks time. I was no where near a vegetarian during this time. I ate meat almost every day. I tried to keep up a variety of meats, but I did eat more Hardees burgers than my husband though was humanly possible.

Remember God's advice to the very first pregnant woman? He told Eve to eat seed-bearing plants and fruit (from trees) with seeds.

I have not posted in a long while, because after loosing almost 30 pounds I finally got pregnant and gained 25 pounds. I am happy to say that I have lost all but 3 pounds of my pregnancy weight.

Finding out in October 2002 that I had PCOS was an amazing day for me. I finally found out why I could just look at a hot fudge sunday and gain 10 pounds! I immediately went on a modified low-carb diet and after almost 10 years of marriage gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

For two years I have almost always avoided the following foods:

• Flour (including pasta, all breads and oatmeal)
• Sugar (including corn syrup, table sugar, etc., but not inlcuding the natural sugar in foods like milk, apples, etc.)
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Soy
• Caffeine (now that I am no longer pregnant I am enjoying caffeine again)

I avoid the soy because of my already mixed up hormone levels and giving up caffeine has allowed me to be hot-flash free for the first time in nearly 20 years. You may notice that fat is not on this list. I ate pounds of no sugar added (not low fat) ice cream and cans of (no sugar added) peanut butter for nine months and gained the exact right weight for my pregnancy. I still eat the ice cream in any amount I want, and I am still slowly loosing weight. I do limit pork, and never eat margarine, lard or any oil except olive oil.

While researching the problems associated with PCOS, I was shocked to find out that according to at least one study 80 per cent of women with adult onset diabetes have PCOS. This should be a wake up call to all women who have any symptoms of PCOS, get in touch with your doctor, insist on getting tested for this.

PCOS symptoms:

• Adult acne
• Irregular periods
• Infertility
• Hair growth on feet, chin, etc
• Weight problems
• Thinning hair
• Insulin problems (insulin resistance, diabetes)

Some PCOS sites

http://www.pcosupport.org/medical/whatis.php

http://www.soulcysters.com/

http://www.obgyn.net/pcos/pcos.asp

January 27, 2003--Today I am 199 pounds. I was up to 227 before I was diagnosed with PCOS about a month after my last post here. I was shocked to learn that my weight gain was related to a health condition I had been living with for all of my adult life and probably before. I immediately began looking around the Net for eating plans. Since then I have avoided grains and processed sugar and potatoes. Presently I am loosing about 2 pounds a week or so. That's not a big loss for most people, but I am very pleased. I now eat what I want other than the items listed above and I feel good about looking in the mirror. I no longer feel guilty about eating and since limiting processed carbs I no longer have the horrible cravings. I still want those foods, but I don't get that hungry anymore. However, when I'm in the grocery store, often I am near tears. I have problems finding sauces and seasonings without grains, starches or corn syrup or other processed sugar. My husband has begun eating what I eat, with an added cheat day per week, and he has lost 10 pounds in the last two weeks. I also mostly cut out my caffeine, which has left me with no energy. My health is a lot better, but I know, being pre-diabetic, that I am not on a diet to loose weight or improve my health just in the short term. I am in this for the long haul.

July 9, 2002
* Today I awoke and tipped the scales at 220. I am only 5'5". This Blog will follow my successes and failures in trying to loose 70 pounds. One year ago on this date I weighed about 175. One year from now I want to weigh 150.