Fighting PCOS Naturally

It's the end of 2014, and time for a new year. We've had some ups and downs this year, and I'm ready for it to be over. However, if the last month or two hadn't happened, I'd probably be starting the new year out like it was any old day, instead of a great time to make a fresh start. The new medication is fabulous - although Hubs and I have been wondering if it's not actually helping, but sending me into a manic episode instead. It's very hard for me to be upset about this, because when I'm manic, things around the house get done, I spend more time hanging out with friends, I watch less tv, I cook more, and some other less appropriate things to discuss :) But Hubs knows when a manic episode goes from being helpful to dangerous, so he is watching me very closely. The first time I seem a little bit too impulsive, angry, violent, or way out of the ordinary, he'll let me know, and I'll call the doc. But it was nice to hear when he said "Welcom

After last night's dream, I felt it was time for a med update. I've been on the effexor for a week. I've noticed that I have more drive to do some things, and less in others. Since the weather has been horrid for the past few days, I've been in the wheelchair again, and lying in bed when at home. In bed, I'm depressed because I don't want to watch tv. I used to love tv, and I ended up taking a 4 hour nap last night instead. Hubs has been spending a lot of time at his friend's because they like to play video games that I don't. I miss him, because he's always gone most of the night, so I'm watching tv by myself. I can't get mad at him because I totally understand his frustration, but I can't help the way I feel when he's gone. But other than sadness when at home, I'm doing fairly well. The dreams, however, have been unusual. I don't often remember dreams, but this week I have. They've been vivid, some happy, some bad. Las

Dietary Change update: It's been about a month and a half now since I went vegetarian. It has been so easy for me. I really thought it was going to be hard, but I don't even miss meat that much. I'd be losing weight if I stopped eating peanut butter m&ms. I ran out of those last night and don't plan on asking Hubs to buy me any more. I hope to start seeing some weight disappear then. Thanksgiving has been the first holiday since I made this change, and I figured I might cheat and eat a little turkey. But Dad said that he's making a ham instead, and I hate ham, so it's a win-win situation! I'm making my usual from scratch green bean casserole - yum! School update: I finished my Anatomy and Physiology course with a final grade of 96. Woohoo! I've started my next class, Natural Heath and Nutrition. It focuses on the foods we eat that are beneficial for us and I'm really excited to learn more. This is exactly why I wanted to study nutrition! I

Today is a day of change again. My psychiatrist and I decided to try a new anti-depressant. Although the process freaks me out, I understand and need this change. My doctor believes that being able to function isn't the only thing that we should focus on. I should be happy, not just functioning. So after increasing the dosages on my previous meds and not seeing any benefits, we decided to change. Change scares the crap out of me. As the sole income earner in the household, the thought of trying a new med makes me worry that it could affect not just myself, but the Hubs and the zoo. What if I get super depressed - worse than I already am? (even though you couldn't tell by just looking at me) I've missed a lot of work this month due to my body falling apart. Oh, I don't think I've talked about that yet, so we'll put a pin in it and I'll go back to that in a minute. So as it currently stands, missing any more work this month will lead to a lack of grocery and

It's been almost 3 weeks since I started making the transition to a vegetarian. I've only had meat products 3 times, which I'm pretty stoked about. I'm still working on the move to dairy-free, but I'm not rushing myself. Heck, if I can go fully vegetarian for a month, I'd be really happy. I have a few reasons for making these changes. 1) Documentaries have shown me the results of what meat production has done to our environment, our bodies, and animals. 2) Animal protein is not the only protein. Our bodies are perfectly capable of eating plant based proteins, like soy and legumes. 3) A considerable amount of food poisoning is from under-cooked meat. Cut out meat and significantly reduce the chance of food poisoning. 4) If we can get everything our body needs from plants, why do we need to kill animals for their meat? What's the point? 5) I want to teach myself to be self-sufficient without the need to slaughter animals. I could have a huge garden with

I've made it through the first 3 days as a vegetarian, and I haven't missed meat at all. I know that the first few weeks are the hardest, and I'm pleased so far. I've been using quinoa and hemp seeds for proteins, and will be using nuts and beans as well. There are thousands of recipes online, and I've already tried some. I'm having to teach Hubs that it's okay for him to eat meat, and that I have no problem cooking it for him. I just don't add meat to my meal. It's surprisingly easy. We went to the grocery store on Saturday, and I walked out with no animal proteins or dairy in my bags. It was easy to ignore the meat. My PCOS group is doing an event called "Creating Goals with Soul", using Danielle LaPorte's Workbook O' Fire. Some of the girls are so excited to participate - and we could all use a little help sticking to our goals. My current health goals: - Continue my vegetarian lifestyle change - Eliminate my coffee consumpt

I am about to embark on the biggest journey of my life. I'm going vegetarian. Almost vegan. That's a big deal. Cutting out meat and dairy is a challenge, but I'm up for it. I might still eat the occasional burger or deviled egg, but my goal is to eat a whole food plant based diet. Netflix has changed my life. After watching Food Inc, I stopped buying meat and eggs unless they were grass fed, pasture raised and hormone free. TED Talks taught me that we have a major sugar problem. Veducated introduced me to more problems with the way our animals are raised. Forks Over Knives convinced me that I'm ready to be a vegetarian. I've had it on my 30 before 30 list before, to go a week without meat. But it's not just meat - it's animal protein in general that I want to eliminate. I don't think it'll be too difficult for me, because I already limit my animal consumption. All I have to do is just let it go. If I come up with any great recipes, I'll pos

I'm officially in school and taking my first course, anatomy and physiology. There's a lot of information to learn, but I'm loving it. I'm ignoring arthritis to make flash cards, so that has to mean something haha. I had the first thought last night that I might even want to proceed with my doctorate in the future. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. One course at a time. I've been eating better because I'm not buying crap anymore. Salads are the new meal of choice for myself and Hubs. The fridge is full of veggies, we're stocked on salad dressing, and dinner is super easy now. It feels great to eat healthy, and it's even better when Hubs tells me he wants salad for dinner. :) We did have a little headache-causing situation a couple of weeks ago. The next door neighbor was washing dishes when he got distracted by a work call and rushed out the door. He forgot to turn the water off. So Friday night, half our apartment was soaked. Maintenance got

FIRST OFF: MY SUPPORT GROUP MEMBERSHIP COUNT IS NOW TRIPLE DIGIT! WE HAVE OVER 100 PEOPLE! Tonight I bought an essential oil blend. I've done some research and read blogger reviews and comparisons and such. I picked a company, then decided which 1 single oil blend I wanted to try first. Originally I had 10 in my cart and almost had a heart attack when I saw the total. Basing my decision off the need in our family, I picked a pain relieving oil for my fibro and Hubs' leg. The one I picked also had a PCOS-related benefit, so the choice was a no-brainer. I plan to use it for a month, or the end of the bottle, whichever comes first. I bought a 15ml bottle to make sure I wouldn't run out soon. Now I don't know the first thing about using essential oils. When I first started looking at it, and reading about the wholesale/MLM kits from some companies, I was a little overwhelmed. I was looking at a box full of oils, but how would I know what to mix? I wouldn't, not yet

My 20s are over in 3.5 years. To me, that seems like tomorrow. Mainly because of how fast 2014 has gone. There are a couple of things on my 30 before 30 list that I know will be happening soon, but some don't seem feasible to me anyone, so I'm modifying my list. 30 before 30: Go Sky-diving Go Scuba diving Get my concealed handgun license. Buy a cute bikini and wear it with pride. Successfully complete one week  as a vegetarian. Empty my storage units Get a second dog Take another vacation Get a nicer car Complete blueprints for our tiny house and get started Find my inner peace Create an exercise routine that becomes second nature Run a 5K - actually run, not host Teach Spike to dance Become a Big Sister volunteer Get a passport and use it Take a course in something interesting Get a new tattoo - Scheduled for Oct 28, 2014 Learn to play another musical instrument Become fluent in another language Get something pierced Dye my hair a crazy color Learn CPR H

Since we moved to our smaller apartment, I've been experimenting with activities Hubs and I can enjoy. We already started with concerts. We've been to more this year than we have since we've been together! 97.1 BFD 2014 - Theory of a Deadman, who happens to sing one of my theme-songs, along with a bunch of other bands like The Pretty Reckless, Five Finger Death Punch and Killswitch Engage. Motley Crue's final tour - I just knew I couldn't pass up this concert. I had a cat named Motley and a dog named Crue. It was an epic concert! I've never seen that many people at Gexa before. And Alice Cooper performed too! Mayhem Fest - it's only a week and a half away, and it has my all-time favorite band, Korn, performing with Avenged Sevenfold and others! This will make Korn concert #2 for me. Hubs has been to several. I've got to dig out my Korn outfit! Two weeks ago, I went to Six Flags' website to check out the season pass prices. I found out that last

I've been so busy with work, side projects and the support group lately that I haven't blogged about myself. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If I'm focused on a lot of stuff, it means my meds are working. I certainly can't disagree with that. So what am I working on? - Well, work is work. I never run out of things to do there. - I've got a project proposal to write up for a side gig. - Support group - fundraising, getting items added to the website to sell, getting promotional items out, prepping for the nutritionist presentation next month. Hub rearranged the living room last night. I was so excited! We have a lot more floor space and a place to put my desk so I can start working on more projects and side gigs. It can't hurt to make some more money. We will continue working on the room tonight - getting some stuff unpacked, consolidating boxes, etc. Soon I should be able to set up my home gym permanently. I figure if I see it I'll use it. It w

Today someone left a support group I'm in for childless people. She realized that as long as she is reminded that she will never have kids, she'll never be truly happy. I've felt this way before. I feel it almost every day. But she attached this pic with it. I've decided to list all of the hopes and expectations I believe people have of me. This way I can work towards shedding other people's expectations and focus on what I want to do. It may seem selfish, but in reality, if I'm always focused on making other people happy, I won't get to make myself happy. I should become a Jehovah's Witness again I should cater to the every whim of my family members I should leave my husband because we are not the typical couple I should work full time but always arrange my work schedule to meets other people's demands I should never feel depressed or in pain when it interferes with someone else's plans I should get a new job that pays more, no matter

In the last several years of running a support group, I've brainstorm ideas to spread awareness of our group and cause. What good is a support group if you can't find it? - I've thought about flyers and brochures at doctor's offices, but ease of distribution was the issue. I didn't want to have to send people into Dr. offices and ask if they didn't mind putting up flyers. But yesterday I figured out the solution. Get a ton of free business cards, give them to all the girls in the group, and let them hand out cards to anyone and everyone they feel would benefit - including asking their doctor to leave a stack of cards for other patients. Quick, simple, and it doesn't require printing a bunch of flyers. I can get 250 cards free on VistaPrint.com , which is exactly what I am going to do! I created several options and posted photos in our group to let them decide which one is the best. I love the choice made! I've been buying stuff from VistaPrint  for ye

Surprise! I decided to change my blog name. Don't worry, the URL hasn't changed :) It's been a little over a week since we finished the move to our new place. I wanted to give you an update on my resulting mental status. I've been so much happier this week. We love the apartment. Spike has calmed down a little with the barking. I haven't cried. I'm not upset about having a smaller kitchen. I enjoy knowing that I don't have room to buy more things. I have more money to do fun things, like buy Groupons for bowling & batting cages, concert tickets, etc. I know that we haven't been here long, but I am really starting to feel happy again. I LOVE IT! I've certainly missed this happy feeling and I can't wait for it to continue as time goes on. I went to Sprouts last night and got lots of organic fruits and veggies that I can snack on throughout the coming few weeks. Grass fed beef was on sale for super cheap, so my freezer is stocked. I'm go

I seriously love MindBodyGreen.com . It would be awesome to get paid for talking about them so much. Alas, that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because yet another article hit home today. It's about acceptance . Learning to accept reality has been difficult for me in the past few years. I didn't want to accept that my husband can't have a biologically related child. I didn't want to accept that my life was headed down the wrong path, into a deeper, darker hole than I've ever been in before. I didn't want to accept that children just aren't in the cards for us for a while, if ever. I didn't want to accept that the plans I had for my life weren't feasible. I didn't want to accept that I was going to have to give up on a long-standing dream. Most recently, I didn't want to accept that I was a hoarder. Acceptance is hard. It doesn't just happen. It takes work. It takes effort. And most of all, it takes hope. That seems counte

And a new one begins! We are finally finished moving. It was a long and painful process, but it's over. We leased our new apartment over a week in advance to the end of our lease in order to have plenty of time to move. Over the first weekend we got the big furniture out and moved all the necessities to the new place. Over the next week we would go back to the old place and pack a little more, usually things we needed that hadn't made it over yet. Last Saturday we had planned to get more packing and moving done, and we could finish up on Sunday and have some time to clean. When I finally woke up at 7 pm Sat evening, I knew that plan was shot. We got started as soon as we could on Sunday. Mom helped and we worked our tails off until we couldn't move anymore. I posted requests for help on Facebook throughout the day trying to find help, but all my calls went unanswered. I took off work Monday to keep packing in the hopes that we would finish without having to pay for anoth

I can't believe it's already 5 months into the new year. It has gone so fast. And since it's a new month, I'm ready for new goals!  But first... How did I do last month? April Highlights: - Organize and decide what large items will be making the move - Yep!  - Finish packing everything Yep! Not exactly the way I wanted to, but it still got done (come back tomorrow for the full story) - Start taking things we won't be moving into the new apartment to storage unit - Yep! - Surprise my niece at another t-ball game - Nope. We missed it because of our move, but there's another game next weekend! - Continue to increase my usual work hours - Sorta.  - Clean and repair any issues that could lessen our returned security deposit - No. Oops.  - Get rid of all the crap in the pantry Pretty much! I trashed a lot of stuff I've had forever. I found a box of mac and cheese that expired in 1998. WTF? I don't know how that has always slipped thro

The move this weekend was exhausting. I was running on no sleep, Hubs was fighting with Mom, and nothing was packed. The packing is definitely my fault. I knew that there would be some arguing, but I determined that I will never leave my Mom and Hubs together to accomplish a big task without being there myself. The same thing happens every time, and although I can multitask, trying to get two people to stop arguing while I'm miles away is ridiculous. We have the basics in the apartment at the moment, and will be packing more over the next week to take to storage or the new place. But since we "moved in" on Saturday, I've had this feeling of dread that we are staying in a hotel for a few days, then going right back to the townhouse. I know it's irrational, but I just can't get it to go away. Hubs has been trying really hard to remind me that we are at home in our new place. I hope it'll go away when we turn the keys in next week. Spike is a little weary

Goals, Goals, Goals.... It's time for my April Goals! But a recap of March first..... March Goals: - Work an average of at least 6 hours a day so we can save up for our move at the end of April - Sorta. I've been doing 5-8 hour days, depending on how my body feels. - Find a place to move to. - We did! It's an efficiency halfway closer to work! - Make something healthy and yummy for this month's PCOS group meetup - a picnic potluck! - It got cancelled due to weather.  - Start working out again. - Ugh, no. No excuses, just lazy. - Continue the slow changes in my diet for success - I've been eating better and worse. - Visit my bestie - We did! Went to see one of my nieces play in her first t-ball game! - Take Hubs outside city limits so he can set off fireworks for his birthday - No, we sat at home, and didn't really do much.  - Completely ignore my 26th birthday. That was easy. I didn't do anything because I wasn't really excited about it. -

Infertility Awareness Week is coming up, and even though I typically write some post for it, I don't want to do that this year. What's my reasoning? I'm continually finding reasons why I should not be a mom. Health issues, money, overall life changes.... So this post is about why I'm OK not being a mom. I've written many posts about why I want to be a mom. This is the opposite side of the coin. It's surprising how your plans, ideas, dreams, change as times goes on. I remember my dad telling me that I should get too attached to a boy because my life would change by the time I was 25. What I wanted as a teenager wouldn't be what I wanted in my life after I got older. He was right. I wanted to be done having kids by the time I was 25. Now, here I am, 26, married, no kids, great job, and the last year has really showed that I've changed. I don't cry about our infertility anymore. I can play with babies and not be upset that I'm going home without t

I was reading through Angie's My So-Called Chaos  blog this week and saw these quizzes. She found them on Erin's blog, Two Thirds Hazel . I always love to find quizzes like these. Remember when us 20-somethings were in school and had Xanga accounts? We'd do all these silly quizzes about who we were, and of course we were pre-teens and teenagers, so our answers would probably not look to great on us now. But I could go on about that forever hahaha, so I'm just going to stick to showing off my answers! You might have to click on the pic to blow it up. They are a little bigger than my new layout can handle. And I hope you can read the font I picked out. I love it. Have fun reading! If you want to do your own, Erin has the images available for download. Just open them in paint and type in your answers!  Image 1  and Image 2

Surprise! I felt like it was time for a new blog design! Since this has become less like a PCOS/food blog and more like a personal one, I wanted to change it up! The trick was finding something I liked that really fit me. That's always been difficult - making sure the the design really reflected who I am, not who I want to be. To decide, I had to figure out who I am and what I'm about before I could find something. So who am I? This has been a very thought-provoking question. I'm happily married 20-something redhead, with a zoo full of pets at home to keep me company. I love my dog, and can't wait to get another one. I love my birds, and will always have them - my home is never quiet and I love it. We are infertile, but fighting to roll with the punches and learn that if it happens, it happens. I'm a software programmer, so I'm a geek. I enjoy playing video games with Hubs and reading books. I love being an Aunt to all my nieces (and some new nephews!). I enjo

I took a quiz today called 'Should You be a Life Coach?' I did it more for entertainment than anything else. I've given out loads of great advice over the years, and I've probably got plenty of people to back me up. I can't get my own damn life straight, but helping other people is easy. My mom has always felt the same way in regards to organization. We can get other people completely organized, but can't figure out how to do it for ourselves. We're like hoarders trying to stop other hoarders from hoarding. (If I think about it long enough I could add more 'hoarding' to that sentence!) I've given free advice since high school. Topics from boyfriends to homework were typical. After graduation came the more important topics, like 'How the hell am I going to make it as an adult?' And I've been there, an open ear, always free. Anyways, the quiz said I really should be a life coach. But if I followed through with it, got certifications

I've been thinking about this move a lot. It's literally the most impulsive thing we've ever done. Everytime we have moved in the past, it's been to bigger apartments. Now we are moving to an efficiency! Part of me is so excited about the total life change. It's not moving across country like some other people have done, but it's still a change of scenery. I realized a couple of days ago that because we will be in a different town, I'll be able to get the resident pricing at the recreation center! That way I can walk on a track no matter what the weather. I need to get back into that and this will help a lot! The complex jacuzzi is just outside our apt too, so I'll be in that all the friggin' time. I can never get the bath water hot enough, so a jacuzzi will rock. We picked up the keys to the storage unit last weekend. The company we picked was the cheapest in the area, but the facilities sparkled. It was so clean, and the on-site manager is super

By no means did this weekend go as planned. We were supposed to take our first trip out to Springtown to finally see the town we've already decided to move to, sight unseen. We were really looking forward to it, until 8am Saturday morning, when my body decided that I shouldn't even have stomach acid in my stomach. We apparently ate some bad food, and had HORRIBLE food poisoning. I've had it before where I just can't keep anything down, but this was another whole level of hell. Did you know that severe food poisoning can include fever and muscle spasms? Couple that with my pre-existing conditions, and I was in agony all freakin' day. When I wasn't in the bathroom, I was staring at the ceiling in tears begging to sleep through it. Hubs got lucky and slept all day. But not me. I wasn't able to finally get a painkiller to stay down until 7pm. Between 7 and midnight I took 3 brands of pain killers, three anti-nausea meds and a sleeping pill before I was finally

Today, I'm 26. Today isn't really any different from any other day. I have no birthday plans, and pretty much all the people that wish me a happy birthday are people reminded by facebook. There's nothing special about a 26th birthday. You are already legal to do everything. Wait, I think you can rent a car without having to pay a 'Under 25' fee. But does 25 count in the 'Under 25'? I don't know. There's only one depressing thing about my birthday. I wish it wasn't such a disappointment, but there are some things I can't control, this being one of them. I wanted to be done having kids by 25. There's not much to talk about in regards to this, so I'm not going to say anything more. But I'm making changes this year, so I am attempting to hope for the best. We are moving next month into a much smaller apartment, saving money to rent a house, and getting my student loans in check. We'll see how this new year goes.

Sometimes random things fall right in place. We've been discussing moving out of our current apartment because we are just tired of living there. I immediately decided that I wanted to move to Springtown and get a big double-wide on at least an acre of land. (I have no problem with being considered white trash because I want a mobile home!) So we started looking and we've found some great options. The only issue was having all the money for deposits and the actual move. Hubs and I have poured over all our options. Option 1) Find a house in Springtown. Option 2) Find a house in our current area. Option 3) Get a different apartment in our area. For this option, we'd stick everything in storage and find an efficiency/studio, maybe even a one bedroom dependent on the price. Option 4) Stay in out current apt for another year and save up money. I REALLY don't want to stay where we are. Option 5) Stick everything in storage and stay in a long-term hotel. I started look

I haven't blogged in a while. I'll have to post an update about life later... (Like how today is the first day I've ever voted!) But it's already time to create March's goals! February Recap: - WORK OUT! I've been slacking for two weeks and that has to change. -nope - Eat more salad! - nope - Visit the gym at least once! - nope - Prep a week's worth of food over the weekend. - I did it on Mar 3. I'm counting it as Feb hahha - WATER WATER WATER! - yep - Beat Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light with Hubs, if I can drag him away from Dead Island. Nope! We started Diablo 3 and Toy Soldiers instead. No more gaming goals.  - Figure out something fun and cheap for Valentine's Day. Guess I need to get started! - we didn't do anything. - Reorganize the baking and spice cabinets in the kitchen. - sorta. I did put some of my bulk goods like oatmeal and quinoa in containers. - Finally go see Dad and have Christmas. - Yep!  I'm not even g

Over the weekend I got a craving for cake. I didn't want to make an entire cake. That would be horrible for my waistline. So I figured I'd default to my yummy chocolate mug cake . That was until I realized I was out of cocoa powder. Oh no! What's a girl to do? Experiment, that's what! I figured that I should look into ways to make it as healthy as possible, for cake anyway. My 5 yr old niece has been having major digestive issues and lost way too much weight, so her mom and I have been trying to find ways to get her to gain weight again, all while being gluten, dairy and soy free. So I found a mug cake recipe here: Vanilla Mug cake from FreeRangeCookies.com , and messed with it just a little. Every version I made was awesome, so I thought I'd share all the recipes I came up with. I even named them! The process of cooking them is the same for all. Add coconut oil and milk to a coffee mug. Microwave for 30-40 seconds to warm it up enough to melt the coconut oil. (It

So I'm a little late with this because Feb is almost half over... But two weeks of goals is better than none! Let's recap Jan's goals first. Read 5 books (already read 1 - I love being a fast reader!) - definitely done! Use all the produce that comes in the house - no waste! - Almost a total success! I've been letting lettuce go bad, so I need to get more salads in my menu! Fill my mp3 player with good music and head to the gym! - Nope.  No fast food! Ok, this one isn't as simple, but I'm ready to try it! - Success!!! I think I went out for fast food once. And it was chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A. They were too yummy to feel bad about it. I don't think I have ever had that many green results! I'm quite happy with myself. February's goals: WORK OUT! I've been slacking for two weeks and that has to change. Eat more salad! Visit the gym at least once! Prep a week's worth of food over the weekend. WATER WATER WATER! B