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!