I had never heard of SyndromeX or PCOS until recently and had no idea what it was. And I can honestly say there aren't many publications that will tell a person exactly what it is. Considering I don't think doctors or scientists have a real idea either.
Well, no. The doctor's don't know what it is, and some of them flat out don't care what it is. For many doctors and the average person on the street, if you're fat its because you eat too much of the wrong things. I get comments all the time about how I look, even from people who see me exercise. One of my favorites was the lady at the gym who asked me how far I swam. I replied that I swim about (at that time) 3/4 to 1 mile. She looked surprised and responded, "And just think about how you'd feel if you did it every day!" I just smiled and said, "But I do swim everyday." I was finished dressing, so I turned around and walked out of the locker room. It was another few weeks before I relented and told the poor woman the whole story.
And then there are people who assume I don't walk far distances or do stairs because of my weight, but its not that... it my ankle and the injury that I have there. Sometimes I don't care, and other times (just ask Noodles!) I get really upset about the assumptions. It makes me feel proud to realize that I can carry a 30 pound tub of cat litter, plus all my groceries inside now. But that's is from all the weights I've been lifting along with the swimming.
I have put myself on kind of a low carb diet. Up until my honeymoon my husband and I had stuck to it pretty good. Since then we've kind of laxed and I can feel the difference in my body. Even in my younger years starches noodles,potatoes, rice) have always packed on the lbs.
Its not just the noodles and pasta or potatoes. When I was in college and graduated, I wore a size 18-20. I'm 5'7", and before I gained the weight from the endocrine disorder, I weighed about 220. Yes, that is overweight. Especially if I go by the BMI chart that says I shouldn't weigh over 150. My best friend is incredibly active and muscular. She and her husband do yoga, pilates, and take miles long walks (10-15 miles!). She used to dance. She's 5'2", and the BMI chart says she shouldn't weigh over 120. She weighs 136. She said the ONLY time she weighed 120 or lower was when she was dancing ALL THE TIME. I think the BMI chart is full of dreck. Anyway, its overweight but I looked normal. I wasn't a size 4, but I wasn't huge either. I felt, as many woman, that I could certainly stand to lose weight... but I ate pasta, and potatoes and ramen and rice. That's what college students eat: ITS CHEAP! I couldn't afford the college meal plan, but a box of macaroni was .45 cents, and fed me for several days! So did a loaf of day old white bread. And guess what? I didn't gain huge amounts of weight. I almost certainly had some of the endocrine issues then that I have now because I've NEVER NEVER NEVER had a normal period. I just flat out don't have one. I started when I was 13 or 14. It was never normal, I never knew when it would show up. It wasn't particularly heavy, and it was never painful. By the time I was in 10th grade, it was coming perhaps 1 time a year, and by the time I was a college freshman it had stopped... until I saw the endocrinologist, I hadn't had a cycle since I was a junior in college, in 1995. I saw the endo the first time in 2001. So it was 6 years. By then, yes, I'd gained weight... but I wasn't eating as much rice or pasta anymore. What had changed was some of the exercise level: I couldn't walk everywhere anymore because of my ankle.
So I have tried to cut all of that out. It has been difficult following that since we are a steak and potatoe household. And I wonder why I am over weight!! I had lost a few lbs, about 13. Maybe that will work for me in the long run!! I have heard and read alot of negative issues concerning the low carb, atkins lifestyle. Especially regarding the high fat intake. Seems I alrady have a problem with the HDL/LDL and the Triglycerides. However, I can not find anything that says it is bad for me. Do you know of any issues with this or where I can find good information.
There are lots of articles here at the forum. However, there are studies that have been done that show Atkins and South Beach both cause initial weight loss, and the claims are largely false. The body burns off the water. South Beach claims to cause 13 pounds of weight loss in 2 weeks (14 days). To lose one pound, you have to burn 3500 more calories than you take in... so to lose that much weight you need to burn 45,500 in 2 weeks. Even with all the exercise I do, and my basal metabolism (the calories I burn just by breathing and existing) I only burn an average of 4200 calories per day. I take in an average of 1600 calories per day. That means that I have an extra 2600 calories that went toward weight loss. All of my figures are from my food tracker (I'm using FitDay and another program that is on my PocketPC), so they're pretty accurate. So even with all the exercise I do, I'm not burning 1 pound of fat per day. Also, losing weight that quickly is very bad. You should aim to not lose more than 1-2 pounds per week.
Also, the reports have shown that while people on Atkins and South Beach lose weight initially (the water weight I speak of above), after 1 year the results are the same as anybody else on a low calorie diet.
The key is not to eat too much of anything... You can't eat a lot of McDonald's or junk. The best thing to do is completely revamp your eating habits so that they are something you can live with. Eat sensibly, and control portions. That portion control is the hardest part for me, I think... mostly because I'm hardly ever hungry and I tend to only eat when I am hungry. My job doesn't allow me to have snacks during the day, so I can go 5-6 hours between the ability to eat anything. I won't eat in front of my students, so I eat breakfast in the morning around 6:30. My next chance to eat is my 5th period planning, which is at 11:30. Then, I can't eat again until 3:30 (if I remember my snack!), and after that, depending on the night, its 6:30 or sometimes 8:30 before I can eat again. Grad school nights are the worst, because I go from work to class, and there isn't a refrigerator I can use at school. Its impractical to bring breakfast, lunch and dinner with me on those nights! Especially since I usually forget the dinner in the student refrigerator on the 3rd floor. Its not anywhere near my classroom!
And where do you all find the time and energy for all of this exercise!!!! I have a hard time finding the energy to get out of bed and function through out the day!! Ya know, I am 26, I shouldn't feel this way!! I should be in "my prime" right? Well I'd like to know where this prime is. I find all of this soooo discouraging!!! I am just hoping and praying that once the doc puts me on meds to counteract the IR I will feel better!! And will find the energy to do some serious exercising.
I have insulin resistance as well, but I can't take glucophage/metformin. I exercised, but there wasn't anything I liked to do... I liked walking, so I did that until I hurt my ankle. After that, the only other thing I liked was swimming. But I hated laps. I liked water aerobics. But most classes were at times I couldn't attend. I tried different machines, and didn't like those. Then I started coaching/teaching swim lessons to kids with disabilities, and liked that. I was spend a whole day or 2-3 evenings a week in the pool... and got free water aerobics classes at the rec center since I volunteered. And when I moved to where I am now, I lucked into a fantastic gym. Its run by a local hospital program and the gym is geared for the average person, although there are lots of not-averages there. The Ravens football team trains there during the off-season, and there are members of the Orioles here too. But there are also plenty of people like me who have an injury or an endocrine disorder, or something else wrong. I started off doing water aerobics and using this funky bike that is run with your arms. And then I met one of the swim instructors and she gave me a work-out to do... which included walking in the water. From there, I started swimming laps. I bought myself a water-proof bag for my CD player, so now I swim laps with music.
I have been considering joining Curves!!! Are there any who have participated in this program and has it been beneficial? Hate to spend the money and it be one of those things that will not work for me or I get bored of.
I haven't heard a lot of good things about Curves to be honest with you. They only allow you to go 3 times a week for 30 minutes. If you can't do their exercises (its a circuit training, and you get the cardio by jogging in place), you're screwed. When I started exercising, I aimed for 3 times a week and saw few, if any results. Of course, I still see few, if any pounds lost, but friends tell me that my body shape has changed... and I know I can swim longer and lift more weight. But I go nearly everyday, or a minimum of 5 days a week. And I'm there for at least 90 minutes of exericse (not including changing and showering): 45 minutes of weights, and 45 minutes of swimming. On some days, I'm there exercising longer because I also do the water aerobics class. My friend who is the swim instructor says that Curves is a good starting place, but that you need to prepared to move to another program or a full gym because you can plateau there quickly. She said its a good place for the average beginner to start off.
The suspected medication for me is Metformin. Now I have read some pretty terrible things on that as well. My mother in law has taken it and has nothing good to say about it. However, my gyno says with this I will be able to conceive. That offered a little hope, but, soon began to wonder if this is really possible. And will it be an immediate thing or will it take time!!! Jeepers!!!!
Glucophage/metformin made me and many others here horribly sick. I haven't been as sick OFF the medication as I was on it, except this past spring and early summer when I couldn't keep food down. But that turned out to be another hormone going bad. There is nothing that could induce me to go back on that medication. The side-effects aren't worth it.
And it won't make it easier for you to get pregnant... I know that there are some people who have ovulated more regularly on it, enough for them to claim that it helps, I guess... but my guess is that for those people, the lowered insulin and weight loss were the real causes of the more regular cycles. Especially since the drug says you shouldn't take it while pregnant or breast feeding! I'm surprised that a gynocologist would says that metformin would make you able to conceive. My endocrinologist is a reproductive endocrinoloigst with a specialty in infertility, and she definitely doesn't feel that way. In fact, when she thought I needed to be on glucophage, she had me go to another endocrinologist, a medical one, who specialized in treating patients with diabetes.
I hope that you can forgive my whining!! I know all could be worse and I have a long row to hoe. Not knowing the answers is driving me nuts!!!! I also understand I have a serious lifestyle change ahead of me, just don't know where to begin!!! I am kind of at a stand still until I go and see this new DR. Then I hope she will take it seriously and help me fix it.
Its not whining: its asking quesitions. I wish somebody had answered my questions 4 years ago when I started this journey. Pick one part of your life to change and start there: It happens gradually. My first thing was to give up soda. The next was the exercise. Then I worked on getting rid of excess sugar, so that if I wanted something sweet, I could have it... but for the most part, I buy things with Splenda. Okay, it helps that I'm not ever home to cook between full time teaching, part-time grad school and the gym.
I eat mostly lean cuisine... And the shame is, I know how to cook and I'm pretty darned good at it!