Four months and 50 pounds later.....

Yes, I am very bad at blogging. We all know this. Clearly, I'm also very bad about sticking to things I decide to do. We all know that, as well. So why am I blogging again? As you may have guessed from the title I gained 50 pounds since my last post! Can you really tell? No, not really, I carry it well and wear baggy clothes. But the scales do not lie. So what happened? Not making habits for one. Not sticking with it through the withdrawals for two. And for three, thinking, "Oh, well, a little sugar, or a little pasta won't kill me!" Boy was I wrong! Clearly, that was exaggerated as I am not dead, just 50 pounds heavier, despite exercise. So what exactly makes me think I can do it right this time? KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!
For women with PCOS the two main things you want to avoid is Sugar and Bad Carbs, ie...pasta, potatoes, bread, RICE, etc. Funny, I always considered white rice to be fine. For the last 4 months I have had ups and downs. But I have always eaten rice. It's a staple. Chinese people eat it all the time and have no problem. About a month and a half ago, Carlos and I watched about movie called Vegucated. We decided to cut out our meat, with the rare exception of some fish or chicken once a week. It started well enough but I was eating a lot of rice. And I mean a lot of rice. Not brown rice. White rice. The thing that creates a problem in women with PCOS is that we are insulin resistant. Our bodies can not eat sugar or bad carbs because it raises our blood sugar too quickly, then drops it. This causes an array of problems. Anyway, I was Hyvee the other day and I looked down at my cart. (Cookies, hawaiian punch, sour cream, cream cheese, some fish, and bread.) I decided to talk to the dietician, noting that I had gained 50 pounds, though apparently not concerned enough not to buy the crap in my cart. Normally a consult costs 40 dollars for a half hour but she agreed to walk around the store with me. I found out that they do sell the Maca Root Powder their which made me happy. Thankfully, she was very familiar with PCOS and was able to walk me through my cart. I began putting things back and was left with just the fish. I told her I loved rice and pasta and often had them with every meal. She asked if I was open to suggestions and I said I was. She first recommended Chia Seeds. Yes...just like Cha CHA Cha CHIA! They are really awesome! You can get a big jar for about 12 dollars. She also recommended that I do lots of fruits and vegetables. Mainly vegetables, but that I make sure I am getting plenty of protein. She recommended, the Chia Seeds, (excellent choice for protein), lentils, beans, fish, etc. Then she asked me if I had ever heard Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WA). I said no and she took me to the correct aisle of their health food section. (It's also found in the normal aisles.) I bought a 2  pound back for about 10 dollars. (It's about 4.59 a lb but the grains are super small so you don't use as much.) It has a low glycemic index which is what women with PCOS should be watching for. (It's about a 51 as compared to white rice's 91). It is also a great source of protein, etc!!!! And guess what! It's super easy to cook and tastes incredible! Okay, maybe not incredible by itself, but if you pair it with stuff, it REALLY works! Tonight I was bored so I, sticking to my resolve not to eat sugar or bad carbs, boiled 2 pieces of chicken, made a cup of Quinoa (this makes 3 cups of cooked Quinoa so make sure you know how much you will be serving) and just a small handful of cheese and corn. (These are on the bad list but if you pair them with something like quinoa then they level each other out and keep your blood sugar from rising too fast.) I then burned some Annaheim peppers so I could peel off the skins. Once they were ready I slit them and cut out the seeds and layed them on a cookie sheet. I then "Stuffed" them with the mixture, sprinkled them with a little more cheese and baked them for about 10 minutes. They were mouthwatering with my salad. Though, I will admit I could only eat about half of my actual chile. I gave the rest of the actual chile to my husband, but stuffing the chiles gave the mix just the right bite! I am so happy I found this information. I will keep updating, now I have a reason to. :) Quinoa Queen Out!

The Winds Of Change....Not Unlike A Tornado....

Today was the first day of what I hope will be a lifestyle change. Not a diet...not a fad....an actual lifestyle change. Those of you who know me very well know that I have always been obese. Not just overweight, obese. I have PCOS as well as IBS-C. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome affects many women in this country and it's no wonder. One of the biggest contributors is an excess in the hormone androgen. How do you get the excess hormone? By being obese, thus explaining why it is so prevalent in this country. Now, that's not to say that it is the only factor, but it has been proven that women who can lose just 5% of their body weight could reduce the symptoms of PCOS including: hirsutism (very embarrassing for those of us who have it because we see it even if nobody else notices), abnormal menstrual cycles, etc. 5%! Not 50%, just 5%. But until we understand how our bodies work it is next to impossible. Normal women may be able to diet and shed pounds losing South Beach and other such fad diets. But when we lose, we almost always seem to gain it back. For the last 6 or 7 years i have weighed over 200 lbs. I began seeing my dear friend and wonderful foster mother begin to shed pounds and keep them off, while watching myself get larger and larger. Then, about a month ago, I began being nauseated almost all of the time. I was throwing up a lot. I wasn't eating the same, and I just didn't know what was going on with me. I assumed I was pregnant, though all of the test have thus far come back negative. Then, for the third time this year, i began to see i was going to have a real problem. I couldn't go to the bathroom. I tried for 4 days, using different over the counter medicines but to no avail. I began praying every few minutes just for some relief, but relief never came. I couldn't understand why i was being forced to suffer like that. Someone posted on my Facebook to sing hymns, so i did and at least received some comfort. I realized that I needed to go to the ER. I was terrified because I knew what awaited me there. It was not very fun, nor was it even very successful. They finally sent me home. When I got home I was finally able to move two bowels in a 5 minute period. Then, the next morning I was able to pass the rest of the impaction. I was finally able to pee without having to stand up and i felt pounds lighter. Because I was. When I went to my doctor he said, "You weigh 233. You have been throwing up for a month but you haven't lost any weight."
     I said I didn't understand it either. When I woke up yesterday, I weighed 228. That's when something changed. My husband is very much into the whole "Healthy Living" thing. To be honest, i'm not exactly sure why he married me, because if anything, i have been a really bad example on him. I should mention that I know just how much he loves me because he has been there both times i have had to have an enema in the ER, as well as administering them at home. He has never once complained or made me feel bad. He's an amazing husband and i'm luck to have such a wonderful man in my life. So yesterday, as the result of an argument, I turned on Netflix and started watching something I had told him I would watch someday. (I did this to prove just how unselfish I was, though I am still very selfish when it comes to what we watch. He's very open-minded and i'm pretty much not.) The movie was called Food Matters. I said I only wanted to watch 20 minutes. I ended up watching 50 minutes. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I'm not the kind of person who can just watch something and have a complete 360 change of mindset, but I came pretty darn close with those 50 minutes. It talks about food and nutrition vs. medicine. It is extremely insightful and made a lot of sense. I felt like it was just what I needed. In the last year, I have been impacted 3 times. Now, I could blame that on my IBS-C, and the fact that I don't get enough water, and that I don't get sufficient bathroom breaks at work. But this show really opened my eyes and made me evaluate my life. I realized we needed to change what we were doing.
     Eating the way you need to is not something you can change overnight, nor is it something that is very inexpensive. But I like a quote from the movie. It said if you can make 51% of your diet good food, the bad effect wouldn't take place. I can't afford at this point to cut out all processed food, nor can i afford to go straight organic for every single thing. I could however read the list of really bad ingredients and cut out anything in my cupboards and fridge that contained them. Top three things i found in my food: MSG, BHT, Common Food Dyes, Butane, Propylene Glycol, etc. I made a decision right there. I took my lovely boxes of pastaroni that i had just got on sale, hamburger helper, mac and cheese, and anything else that had one of the NO NO ingredients in the list and put them in a bag and gave them away. I can't cut out everything bad but I can make the majority of my diet good. I went grocery shopping. I bought avocados, asparagus, broccoli, romaine, tomatoes, angel hair pasta (i was obsessed with the Parmesan Angel Hair pasta from Pasta Roni and If you read the ingredients it's horrible for you.), watermelon, frozen fruits with no sugar or sweeteners fresh frozen, cantelope, lemons, and some orange juice (no sugar) cuz it was on sale. This was good for two reasons. One, I was getting good food. Two, because after 4 days of laying around in pain I was moving. When I got home I was able to have another bowel movement. I made salmon fillets and angel hair pasta with a lemon-garlic sauce and some salad. It was divine! I again was able to have a bowel movement after eating and began feeling a lot better. Then this morning I woke up and couldn't go to the bathroom. I decided to have a glass of water to start my day and apparently it kicked my bowels into gear too! I weighed myself today and i was 226.6!
     I decided to start my day right and made a smoothie for breakfast. It had strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, orange juice, and my maca. (I haven't taken that or my spirulena in a while because of the taste, i just couldn't find a way to keep them down.) When I added the spirulena i got scared cuz it turned the whole thing green and frothy! I finally got up the courage to taste it. It was delicious! Then I noted how I felt today. I felt really good. I had a couple of glasses of orange juice here and there. No cravings, and actually when I opened the freezer and saw the gummy bears, i remembered reading the ingredients list and not having the desire to eat them! Not too much pain anywhere, I was able to go to the bathroom as needed, and then after dinner, something strange happened. I wanted to exercise! We were watching tv and i got down on the floor and just started stretching! When we finished the movie I turned on our Wii Fit, did that for a while, then actually put in the gold's gym workout dvd and actually did it for like 20 minutes! I didn't enjoy it per se. But it was strange. My thoughts weren't, "Oh man, I am so fat. I need to work out or i'm never going to be skinny and attractive!" They weren't, "Ugh, I need to exercise or I won't be able to have a bowel movement!" My thoughts actually were pretty non-existent. I found my body bouncing to the music. Then, I just kept going because it felt great! Well, I will write again tomorrow. My husband is making me go to bed! Good Night!

Ummm....Okay....A Little Confused

So yesterday as I was at work my stomach felt a little funny. When I went to the bathroom I noticed a little bit of blood. Not like super amounts, and it didn't show up in the toilet. I thought maybe it was my imagination cuz it was just pink, not bright red or anything. But it kept showing up each time i went. Then last night, there was a drop of discharge that was laced with blood that fell into the toilet. It happened again today and there was more blood on my toilet paper. My stomach also feels kinda how it did before when I was gonna start my period. No, i'm not complaining, but I am a bit confused. Jolin said it took her sister 3 weeks before she got her period. Am I  excited? Of course, especially if something more comes of it. I'm just seriously a bit confused. Then again, the fact that I dropped 10 pounds in a day could have also kicked the effects up a notch.
A side note, I don't know if i wrote about how the salad went over yesterday but it was fantastic! If you take the spirulena and mix it with the salad dressing before you put it in on the salad, it works great and tastes amazing! I used Olive Garden's Italian dressing and it was just fantastic! I think that will be how i take it from now on.

More weight loss....

I weighed 233.1 today im 231.8. Im feeling a lot better too! I think i'm going to have my spirulena with my salad for lunch today. I had some wheat saltines this morning and i'm feeling pretty good. Last night I recognized when I was full, though I ignored it. Time to go to work.

A Promising Beginning....

Surprisingly, I feel pretty great! The Spirulena certainly seems to do its job! I didn't have as many hunger pains as i normally would if i didn't eat anything all day! I feel pretty good!

Period. What was once a sentence is no longer.

If you are reading my blog and are close to me, you know that I have not had a period since last November and despite a scare in February, I am not pregnant. I have PCOS. This is a condition that affects many women in our society today, mainly due to obesity. I personally did not start my period until i was 19, was very irregular, sometimes having 3 periods a month. Then, I didn't have one for a year. Although, this came as a relief after having such painful experiences, this was not good. I went to my doctor, and got my periods to be a little more regular, but then they stopped again last November. So...hopefully, I will begin to see the results of my vitamins! By the way I weighed 241 yesterday, today I weigh 233.8! Not the funnest way to lose weight, but I definitely feel better!

Spiralena- The Good and the Bad

Wow....The taste is definitely something you have to get used to! If you take this, I recommend very highly what the girl who told me about this said to do. She said to mix in Raw Honey. I don't have any yet but I will soon hopefully. A little about Spirulena. It is a whole food/dietary supplement, that comes from algae, that helps control your blood sugar levels as well as curb your appetite.Another idea i just found out is that when i get off this liquid diet i can sprinkle it on my salads. YAY!
The Maca Magic Root, as of this moment, doesn't have a taste, though the bag says it tastes malty. Here's a little bit about it: "it increases libido in both men and women quite dramatically and there is scientific research to prove this.

It also increases energy levels, helps balance hormones and is said to balance the endocrine system and hormonesIt also helps with oestrogen dominance and osteoporosis due to it’s high mineral content with approximately 300mg calcium per 100 grams making it the perfect natural calcium supplement. It also contains magnesium, potassium, iron, silica and traces of iodine, manganese, zinc, copper and sodium, plant sterols which account for it’s hormone balancing effect and 19 valuable amino acids. It also contains vitamins B2, B6, C and niacin. No wonder it is called a Superfood.

It contains considerably more calcium than cows’ milk, and also contains vitamin B12. Maca contains around 15% protein, and all of the essential amino acids. It is not just a basic supplement, but an entire spectrum of nutrients. Maca is an adaptogen and this means that it works to balance hormone problems within the body where imbalance lies. It actually stabilises hormone levels and is therefore an asset to both men and women for a variety of reasons." This makes me very excited. 

******WARNING*************

This blog will contain information when and if i get my period, duration, as well as my ovulation chart. Just a fair note, this will probably be best received by my female friends. 

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The beginning

This is my very first post on my new blog. After a recent trip to the emergency room, I realized just how important it was for me to really look at what was going in to my body, as well as the amounts that I was consuming. This blog is going to be a diary for my journey. (I'm only allowed liquids for the next 3 days).
Today I am starting off my day with my liver cleanse. You drink a quart of water with one lemon squeezed into it. I also received my vitamins yesterday! YAY! So, with this mornings water, I will also be having a teaspoon of Magic Maca Root and Spiralena. I will be updating often with pictures of me and how i feel physically, as well as emotionally. Obviously, this will not be as entertaing as some of my other blogs, but I appreciate any followers who want to take the journey with me! 
The picture above is from about a week ago. My beautiful niece Ruby and I went to David's Bridal. My husband takes pictures of everything and I had no idea how atrocious I looked! Here's one of the dress I really liked.

My niece looks absolutely stunning, but hopefully, we will see a transformation in me too!