My journey – 30 days in

Can’t believe it’s been 30 days already since I started off this journey. I decided on monthly weigh-in/measurements since it takes forever to see any real changes and my weight can fluctuate week to week much more.

Here’s a summary of my weight-loss PCOS self-treatment to date:

• Low GI diet with some restriction of grain intake (no grains with evening meal)
• Crossfit 2-3 times a week (worked up to 3x week)
• Supplement with 4g myoinositol (will blog on this soon)
• At least 8 hours sleep a night, try not to sleep in too much

So here’s my numbers after 30 days –

Weight: 59.4kg (no change)

Bust: 98cm (no change)

Waist: 77.5cm (0.5cm loss)

Stomach: 88cm (1.5cm loss).

So as expected I didn’t lose any weight but I’m not too concerned with this. It would be rare for me to lose more than a kilo over a 6 month period so being stable is fine with me. Especially since I’ve lost some cm’s off my torso. So slowly but surely I’m losing fat but (hopefully) being replaced with muscle.

Pretty happy with this. Of course I would have loved to see a kilo come off the scales but I have to be realistic. Let’s see if I stick with this regime that I can see these results consistently 🙂

Crossfit just kicked my arse

So I just got back from a introductory trial session at my local Crossfit gym. And as my title suggests, I’m knackered. My legs are sore already and I had a mild asthma attack due to my very poor cardio fitness right now. But I can certainly see this program working to improve fitness, that’s for sure.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Crossfit, it’s basically a fitness program based on high intensity and constantly changing workouts using whole body, functional movements. No two sessions are the same and you work as hard as you can go with the program set for the class each session. If you’d like more information or a more specific (and accurate) description then visit http://www.crossfit.com or Google to find a local Crossfit gym.

Now if you’re like me you may have searched the Net looking for information on treatment of PCOS through various lifestyle changes. There’s a reasonable amount on diet but hardly any on exercise. (If anyone reading this happens to know of any resources on PCOS and exercise, please feel free to message me.) I’ll be posting a blog soon about PCOS and exercise but for now I’m sticking with Crossfit.

IMO, I think Crossfit could be greatly beneficial to women with PCOS. You would burn heaps of calories and build muscle which increases your resting metabolism. The downside is a) it’s expensive when compared to a gym and 2) it’s HARD to start off. I’m sure if I kept going back I’d get better and start to really enjoy it. So at this stage I think I’ll sign up for a beginner session (3 classes) and see how that flys.

Let’s just see if I can walk tomorrow and then decide on my course 🙂

The journey begins

Hi all,

Welcome to the first post of my new blog 🙂 This blog is intended to be more a diary of my ongoing self-treatment of my PCOS but hopefully over time I’ll include more general information of diet, exercise, lifestyle modification and recent research around PCOS that might be more useful to some of you. So if you’re interested in my story, read on. Otherwise, stay posted.

First off a little about me. My name is Carlie, I’m a 32 year old Aussie (settled in Melbourne), a recently unemployed chemist (the one makes drugs in a lab, not the ones that work in a pharmacy) and part-time student.

I was diagnosed with PCOS a few months ago after a 2 year wait, 2 doctors, 3 sets of tests, 2 ultrasounds and lots of internet research. I’d always had irregular periods which didn’t really bother me until I’d settled down into a long term relationship with my current partner. Having no period for 3 months can be unsettling when you’re not wanting children any time soon.

My first port of call was my reliable GP. She was the first that suggested PCOS but, after normal bloodwork and no sign of polycystic ovaries (PCO’s) her comment was to ‘come back when I wanted to get pregnant’. I didn’t want to get pregnant, I wanted to get healthy.

Two years later, more weight gain (it had been creeping up on me by about 1-2kg per year) and another 3 month period absence, I went to a women’s health clinic near my work. Same tests but this time my ultrasound showed 25 follicles per ovary (the threshold for PCO’s is 12). So despite my normal hormone, insulin and blood sugar levels I finally got my diagnosis.

Unfortunately, I realised my journey back to health was just beginning. The advice from my doctor was to ‘lose weight, about 3-5 kg’. No medication was recommended, which I’m not disappointed with, and she had a few dietary tips for me but nothing I hadn’t found on the internet before, even some that conflicted with what I had read.

I’m sure many of the cysters out there can relate to this frustration. Telling someone with this condition to ‘just lose weight’ can feel like a kick in the guts. What the hell do you think we’ve been trying to do??? It’s VERY difficult for us PCOS girls to just lose weight. It hangs around no matter how hard we diet or work out.

Okay, rant mode off and back to the present day. Lucky for me I’m considered ‘lean PCOS,’ so I’m not obese but still have a desire to lose a little bit of weight, to regulate my periods and to feel better about myself. So like most things in life, I’m doing it myself. And it starts with this blog.

With my sister getting married in a year I certainly have a motivating factor and a timeframe to make some lifestyle changes. But I want to do this for me, not for my family, boyfriend or anyone else. And I don’t want to be thin, I want to be healthy.

So here’s the plan as I see it now:

Currently I weigh in at 59.4kg, bust at 98cm, waist at 78cm and belly at 89.5cm. These measurements need to come down. The weight may not budge much but getting to 55kg would be fantastic.

I’ve been eating a low GI diet for a few years now but had eliminated pasta on advice from my doctor, as well as keeping any low GI grain to lunch rather than later in the day.

I’ll be signing up for CrossFit to get my lazy arse into gear and get some fitness happening. With no job I have no excuses anymore.

So for those of you who have made it this far, stay tuned for updates on my progress, in between other more general posts.

Smile and stay beautiful all xoxo