For those of you who are new to this blog, I started it because I have been diagnosed with PCOS. If you are wondering why they is, click on the link at the top of this to find out information about it.
Those of you who didn't know me prior to the onset of my symptoms, may be shocked to find out that I used be a normal weight, pretty fit and muscular person and when my symptoms started popping up, my weight started packing on and before I knew it, in a matter of a year, I gained approximately 20-25 pounds. I didn't realize it until I went to my yearly exam with my doctor and she was like "Uhm we need to do something about this!". I still wasn't diagnosed with PCOS at that point. I had other health problems (digestive problems and had my gallbladder removed) so I attributed it to that and just kept my fat/greasy levels down on all of my foods so that I could keep my digestive symptoms and pain down. I like to attribute the weight gain (it happened around the time) to the fact that my husband and I suddenly got custody of my husband's twin sisters (story here if you're interested in reading and want to understand what I'm talking about) and the stress we had to deal with. It is not their fault but it certainly didn't help that life got crazy, schedule got busy and probably eating too much because of stress.
Due to my digestive issues, I had to cut meat out of my diet altogether. I couldn't do fast food most of the time. I was really restricted until my doctor put me on Metformin. (I know the side effect is bowel issues but it had the opposite effect, it fixed all of my food intolerance problems) As with all diet changes and being on medication, I did get approval from my doctor to change my diet. He actually said a reduction in carbs tends to help women with PCOS who have a hard time losing weight, to lose weight... Great news for me and hopefully some of you too!!
I have decided that I am done starting and stopping a diet because my husband won't eat this or eat that. This time he's totally on board with our new plan and it is something that my doctor recommends anyways: reducing my crabs. We have chosen to abandon our vegetarian diet for Atkins. So far it has been very easy and not taken too much of a toll on my energy or anything. So far I've had to force myself to remember to make time to eat breakfast because I hardly ever eat breakfast during the week. I will eat a snack between breakfast and lunch, so far it has been celery one day and pepperoni slices w/ cream cheese today. I will eat a lunch, so far both days it has been salad with cheese and ham cubes on it. My second snack will consist of sugar free Jell-O with a dollop of homemade whipped cream (whip up whipping cream and some Stevia). Dinner has been a salad with boiled eggs, ham cubes and cheese with about 3 crab legs. Tomorrow I'll be able to cook some dinner and I'm thinking of making this delicious sounding Mexican Lasagna. Apparently you steam cabbage with a little butter and cook ground beef with some garlic, cumin, chili powder and other spices you like, drain both (not together). Put the cabbage on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and top with ground beef. Put a little salsa on top of the meet, some sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. Serve it up with a salad or some mashed cauliflower... YUMM!!!!
I have used the Atkins web app to track my progress (none has been made yet since I started on Tuesday) but I can put my food in the log and add my weight/measurements and makes changes to track my progress in the long run compared to my goal. I am just hoping I make some progress. I don't know about you but one thing that keeps me from moving forward with diets a lot of times is when I see zero progress after I've worked hard or dieted well. Nothing kills my motivation faster than seeing no results from my hard work. Right when I started to gain a little weight, I remember we were going to then gym 4-5 times a week for approximately 2-3+hours each time (depending on our schedule), eating a 90% raw, vegetarian diet but I was only gaining weight and my pants only kept getting tighter.... The exact opposite of what I was busting my butt to happen!!!
I will keep my weight loss journey updated as it goes along. I am hoping to motivate someone to make some changes to improve their health or lose the weight they want by doing this. I know this won't be an immediate results deal and will be work but I am willing to do it! These few pounds could be the difference between my happiness, my health and my future offspring coming to life!
Wish me luck!
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