Fighting PCOS Naturally

For the last 8-9 months, I've been participating in the Soul Cyster's Weight Loss Challenge, ran by Christina at Mrs. O's Life . I did great in the first one, and won 3rd place. This time, I totally failed. I'm just hoping I get lucky enough to show a 0.1 pound loss this weekend when I submit my final weigh-in. The next challenge starts on Monday. I really want to participate again, but don't have the money this time. Since tomorrow is my last day at work, paying for anything other than food, rent and utilities is pretty much out of the question right now. Thankfully Christina decided to do a giveaway for SCWLC entries. She's giving away to entries to the challenge, so I'm doing everything I can to have a better chance of winning! Do you have PCOS and need to lose weight too? The entry fee is $20, and it starts Monday. I'm going to assume that late entries are allowed, since we did that for the current challenge. The giveaway for 2 free entries lasts t...

It's Thursday! And today is a good day. Besides it being What's Your Song? Thursday, I'm excited to show off a newly redesigned blog! I even have a legitimate domain name now! www.FightingPCOSNaturally.com ! Don't worry, all the old links from my blogger name still work just fine. I am still doing a little tweaking to the colors of the fonts and headers, but this was publishable. I'm becoming a full-time blogger bext week, and in order to make money off of it, I had to incorporate ads. I'll do my best to keep them simple :) Tomorrow is my last day at work. My contract is up, and I need time to focus on my health. Along with the new blogging venture, I plan on doing lots of crafty stuff, and EXERCISE! I have several new yoga workout games for the Wii, and I can't wait to try them out. I'm hoping to start out with 30min of exercise 2-3 times a day, then work up to 1+ hour twice a day, at least. I'll have plenty of free time, so I'm going 'Big...

I skipped last week's Fat Ass Friday because I didn't like what the scale said. Well, I didn't like what it said this week, either, but then I realized something. I can't hold myself accountable if I ignore it. And I'm not helping anyone learn about PCOS if I don'tr share the real, honest truth, no matter how much it depresses me. Apparently I deleted the picture from my phone, so no scale pic today. Starting weight: 233 Last week's weight (Two weeks ago): 234.4 Current weight: 240.0 Weight +GAIN / -LOSS this week: +5.6 Total weight lost: +7.0 I was the same this week as I was last week, and I want to cry. Granted, I'm not working out. I've failed part of my 21-day challenge again. However, just one more week before I become a stay-at-home whatever, and have plenty of time to work out. Hubs understands how important this is for me, and he's supposed to be helping me work out more, now that I'll have more time to do it. I'm really ...

Last night I went shopping with my e-mealz shopping list. I'm on the Low Carb Any Store for 2 plan. The average is supposed to be around $50. I would agree that $50 is about right for this list. However, I don't shop cheap. I buy organic, grass-fed beef and hormone free chicken. That increased my budget by about $20. I also bought a whole bunch of other stuff, like chips and salsa, extra fruits and veggies, and lunch stuff for Hubs. I'll let you know next week if the recipes are as good as they sound :) I would be super happy if we lived on a farm and I could raise my own chickens. I'm not sure it would save me a lot of money, but it would make me feel better. At least the money I'm spending on the meat I purchase now is going to local farms instead of store chains. I guess I need to start looking for homes for rent out in the country, where I can have some chickens. And goats. Why? Because goats are cute. They jump in the air and dance. How can you be stressed an...

Well, my contract with this company is up at the end of next week. I'm going to be working out A LOT, cooking more, cleaning and organizing the house, and getting some crafting done. My health is the most important thing right now. I have been stuck at the same weight for several months now, and it ticks me off. I need to start working out more and really focusing on what I eat. I'm also still in school, working on my Master's. Once I get my Master's, I can get a job teaching, which is what I would really like to do. I might have to get a part-time job during this hiatus, but that's not a big deal. I'd be happy with a part-time job that I enjoy - one that doesn't stress me out like this one. And you know what? I'm not stressing about losing my income. I'm relieved that I'm going to be doing something good for myself. It may be a little tight on cash for a while, but that's what coupons and sales are for. I also plan on selling some of my craf...

I'l be honest - I rarely talk about TV shows. Although I have my favorites, and ones that I just have to watch (like almost all the competition shows on Food Network!), I don't write about them. What we saw last night, though, is an exception. Hubs and I don't watch America's Got Talent. But somehow, that's what we started watching last night, and the channel never got changed, even after the Justin Bieber lookalike performed. The very last performance of the night was from a group called The Silhouettes , from Denver, Colorado. They use a massive light and a screen to make shapes. You know how you used to make birds and dogs with your fingers and a flashlight? Yeah - that's kid stuff compared to this group. And their performance was amazing. They got all 10 of my votes. Check out the performance: They even increased the size of their group by 4 people from the audition to the Hollywood performance. Here is their original audition (I liked last night...

So the next step I have taken in my weight loss journey is my new subscription to e-mealz.com. I have heard rave reviews about this company, and for the low price of $5 a month, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try. e-mealz is a subscription service that provides you with a menu plan for the week, as well as a shopping list (in most cases, with prices!) to help you shop. With the recent changes Hubs and I are making to better take care of my health, I'm trying to save money anywhere I can. (Reducing stress does wonders for weight loss!) I waste a TON of money on food. I buy more than I need, and it goes bad. Not cool when you're on a budget. They have low carb, gluten free, and portion control menus, as well as regular, no limits menus. For those with kids, they have larger plans to feed more, and they have one for people like me, who only need to feed 2 people. The 2 people menu plans are budgeted to spend $30-$50 a week, and the larger, 4-6 people plans are $80-$100. Al...

I walked into my office this morning, realized it was Thursday, and did a little dance :) I love the What's Your Song Thursday link up. Would it be weird to say that it gets me through the week? Probably, but I'll do it anyway! This week I have been contemplating a serious change in my life. It would involve quitting my job, taking a few months to work on myself and my health, then working on finding something that will make me feel more fulfilled. This seems like a drastic change, and it is. I'm sick of IT. I don't want to sit in front of a computer all day. It's a partial cause of my back problems, my weight, and my stress - all of which I need a major break from. I'm still going to finish my Master's degree, because I want to be able to teach. I can teach IT once I graduate. But that's just a side thing. I've been looking into Nutritionist and Herbalist classes/certifications. Ever since I started to take control of my life and start fighting PC...

It's time to cry again. Why? Because I talked to my coworker about babies. His wife has epilepsy, and is on the same medication that I'm on for my bipolar disorder. And what did I find out today? They are waiting until she is weaned off this medication before they start TTC, because carbamazipine almost completely inhibits the body's ability to process folic acid. And pretty much everbody knows that folic acid during pregnancy is UBER important. If the baby doesn't get enough, they are at increased risk for spinal and mental birth defects. I already knew that I was going to have to go off my depression meds, but my bipolar meds keep me from going psycho. Hubs told me he never forgets to give me my pills because he remembers what I nightmare bitch I was before I was on them. Why do I have to deal with these problems? I'd like to go back in time, meet the person I was in a former life, and beat the living crap out of him/her, make them straighten up their lives so I d...

Starting weight: 233 Last week's weight: 237.6 Current weight: 234.4 Weight +GAIN / -LOSS this week: -3.2 Total weight lost: +1.4 It's days like this when I feel a little spring in my step. 3.2 pounds in 4 days. It's amazing what the right eating modifications will do. I'm trying to do my best not to say I'm on a diet. A 'diet' is temporary. This is a lifestyle change. I've been working on it for a while, then I slipped - back into drinking Dr. Pepper and eating junk food. It's not that I don't enjoy eating healthy. I love the food I'm eating. My problem is the depression and the back pain. When I'm too depressed to get off the couch, I can't cook. When I do get off the couch to cook, I end up in crippling pain after 10-15 of standing in front of the stove. And I have to eat something, right? Is something bad better than nothing at all? I've been able to extend my cooking time by putting a squishy floor mat down, but onl...

It's Thursday! Yay! So this week I've been experimenting in the bedroom :) Many moons ago, I remember a Home Improvement episode where Tim and Jill went on a 'vacation', and his bosses were shocked to hear that he didn't make love to Jill at least 5 times a week. I've always had that in the back of my mind. PCOS' affect on a woman's hormones really does a number in the bedroom. Some women have an almost insatiable desire, and others have almost none. I love s.ex, but haven't had a strong desire for it in a long time. I've been content to just a couple of days a week. Having only been married for a year and a half, and in a relationship for three and a half, I have this nagging feeling that a couple of times a week just isn't enough. So to go along with my 21-day challenge , I decided to start increasing the frequency :) I'm fairly certain that my hubby is shocked - since he's gotten lucky 3 nights in a row, in the MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...

Ok, here we go again. I've already royally failed on the first 21-day challenge, and I'm only 14 days in. I've decided that I'm just going to stop it and restart. Here's the rules for take 2: > Work out at least 15 min a day, 7 days a week. Alternate between yoga, step aerobics, and the fitness center so I don't get bored. Work out as soon as I get home from work M-F so I don't get lazy on the couch and skip it. > No sodas. > No junk food, i.e. Doritos, cookies, cheese dip, etc. > No fast food - unless it's Subway and gluten free. 21 days to the new me officially starts now. Breakfast this morning was good for me, and so is lunch, so I can start today. :) Photo Credit

Starting weight: 233 Current weight: 237.6 Weight +GAIN / -LOSS this week: +4.6 Total weight lost: +4.6 This is why I hate PCOS. And my lack of motivation. I gained 4.6 pounds in one week. And that's solely from splurging on one day. Not the whole week, just ONE DAY. Sunday was ZOMBIE FEST. One of our nieces is leaving for college in 2 days, and she hadn't seen any of the Resident Evil movies. We fixed that. I had planned on making good munchies, but I got lazy. I decided I'd rather watch the movies than hang out in the kitchen, cooking. So we had donuts, cookies, Totino's pizza and cheese dip. For those of you on Weight Watchers, did you know a Totino's party pizza is 17 points? Yeah. Ouch. Oh, and I had a honey bun yesterday. They looked so good. I said I wanted one, then my hubby said "NO. Your splurge day was Sunday. You can't have one." So I decided not to have one. Then I said, "But I really want a honey bun." and he gave in. Cra...