Trying to get healthy
 

Hey everyone! I've been wanting to lose weight for a couple of years now. After I met my boyfriend 7 years ago I've gradually starting putting on weight. I've gained about 70lbs since meeting him. :( I feel terrible physically and emotionally and I'm ready to get it off! I recently went to the dr because we've been trying to get pregnant on and off for the last 3 years and haven't had any success. She diagnosed me with pcos after doing some test and hearing my history and girl issues and told me the best way to beat the odds was to lose about 50lbs. She is also trying to get my hormone level back to normal. Hearing this news was pretty much a slap in the face. We really want to have a child and now i'm determined to make that happen since it's basically my fault that we can't conceive. I'm starting slow... I've failed in the past because during the first week I restricted my diet too much and worked out too hard.. which made me extremely sore and tired. This time I've cut out most of the carbs and all of the fast food and soda, and I have been walking the dogs 3x a week for about a mile and a half around the neighborhood. In the past I was also obsessed with weighing myself throughout the day, this time I'm gonna try and only weigh myself once a week.. I think the goal of 3-4lbs a week is reasonable.. Thanks for reading, sorry it was kind of long.. :dizzy:

Welcome to 3FC! Lots and lots of supportive people here with tons of experiences to share. (You thought that post was long? Not even close! Don't ever apologize for length of posts. When you need to share, do it.)

There's a PCOS group here and they're very knowledgable. It's a tricky thing to deal with (I have it too). But you didn't create that in yourself, and it makes gaining weight very easy and losing weight slower than you would like it to happen.

I like that you cut out fast food and soda! And walking the dogs is great too! Carbs and PCOS - totally not friends! Good choice on that one too. Since you've cut all that stuff out, what good stuff have you added back in to your diet? Are you eating your veggies? Especially those dark green leafy veg? Because that baby is going to need the nutrients from those to develop a healthy brain right away. Eat to nourish the baby you want right now.

As for weighing yourself so often, you're making a good decision on that too. Water fluctuates throughout the day, and we have more water in our bodies than anything else. Just keep drinking the water and eating healthy. You'll be feeling healthier by the week!

Thanks for the response geoblewis! PCOS is new to me and the dr made me feel like the weight was the only reason keeping us from getting pregnant and the weight caused the hormone imbalance.

As for adding new foods, yes, I've upped my veggies a lot. Lots of asparagus, mixed greens, broccoli, apples, fish, and chicken. (Chicken is still new territory, I haven't eaten it in about a year) I love mashed potatoes so I've been trying to make the mashed cauliflower, but it's just not the same! haha.. I have been indulging in small pieces of dark chocolate every few days, because if I just totally kick all of the sweets i'll eventually binge.. then give up on my diet completely. I have found that if I "cheat" at all... I give up. I hate this.. so this time I'm not cutting out the things I love the most.. just not eating them as often.

I need to up the water drinking! I've starting drinking unsweetened iced tea more often.. does that count?

Both times that I got pregnant I weighed over 270 lbs. It took me some time to get pregnant, and this was before anyone ever talked to me about PCOS, over 20 years ago. It wasn't suggested to me that I have PCOS until after I had both my sons, when we were trying to figure out why it was so dang hard for me to lose weight. Wish I had known about it a lot earlier! I would have changed how I was eating/living a lot sooner!

Fat does have a hormonal impact on our bodies. I suggest you do some reading. So many new books out about PCOS. Also, the Soulcysters website is helpful.

Unsweetened tea totally counts! And if you miss drinking something sweetened, maybe try the Good Earth Original Blend tea. It has a lot of cinnamon in it, which is also good for blood sugar regulation. It's sweet and spicy and I love it heavily iced or hot.

As for sweets, I used to eat a lot more than I thought I did. A Coke a day, maybe a Snickers a week, cafe mocha from Starbucks a couple times a week...it all adds up! When I cut it all from my diet, plus went very low carb, that's when I started having cravings for it all. I'm now finding that if I have just an ounce of dark French chocolate (no soy in it 'cuz I'm allergic) with some shaved coconut chunks, a serving of berries with full-fat Greek yogurt, and half an apple with almond butter, (once a week for each), I can manage the sweets and carb cravings.

I just slowly cut things out that didn't really mean anything to me. And having a soy allergy really helped me a lot. Had to give up on nearly all processed foods and going out to any chain restaurant or cheap eatery. It's good you're enjoying the veggies. I'd have more fun with that, get creative and experiment. There is not adequate sub for potatoes, but parsnips are nice mashed, jicama can be made into fries, scalloped sweet potatoes are divine! And roasted cauliflower with tahini dressing is the bomb!