Gotta Pick Yourself Up
Growing up, it was always hard for me to watch the different kinds of food I’d consume and be able to not only keep weight off, but whatever weight I did lose, be able to maintain it. Growing up in an Italian household didn’t help—every Sunday was a feast. A spread of antipasto, followed by spaghetti, meatballs, sausage, bresaola, veal cutlets, along with a crisp salad with crunchy romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, fennel and oil/vinegar dressing. (Salad’s healthy right!) It was difficult to steer clear of the carbs, watch my calories and to eat smaller portions especially with all of mom and grandmas delicious homemade food, always in front of me. When I finally woke up and smelled the coffee after having struggled with PCOS for a while, I started a program called Medifast. After signing up for Medifast (and indicating much food you need; weekly/monthly/etc.), they mail you a huge box full of their prepackaged snacks, brownies, cookies, bars, shakes, soups, etc. It went like this—It was a 5 and 1 plan--per day, you’d eat 5 of their meals and 1 lean and green meal prepared by you, which consisted of a certain portion of meat, chicken, fish, plus 2-2/12 cups of veggies prepared any way your heart desires. I did the program for about 3 months and with exercise, lost a total of 15lbs. I was impressed with myself…even at holidays/get together’s I stuck with it and instead of ordering what I normally would at a restaurant, I would order a healthy dish like chicken with grilled veggies, a steak with a baked potato no butter or sour cream…totally boring...but I was committed, and above all, proud of myself. After being on the plan for 3 months, I decided it was a little pricy, so I began to maintain my weight by counting calories, exercise, cutting out breads/starchy foods and just focus more on healthy choices like picking up a handful of grapes instead of a few pieces of cheese, or not finishing the left over potato salad in the fridge, but instead, cutting up a celery stalk and dipping it in a little peanut butter. It became part of life to me, and every time I fell off, I picked myself back up and worked twice as hard. I couldn’t believe it. I lost an additional 5lbs, a whopping total of 20lbs. I swear, I wanted to cry every time I saw the numbers on the scale go down. It gave me, someone who has PCOS the hope that you really can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The goal is to be determined, motivated and you have to believe in yourself. So, I was able to stick with it up until last July where I fell and fractured my tailbone. Holy Moly, it was the worst pain I’ve ever had. The pain lasted a real long time and really wasn’t able to do much for months, especially exercise. That was a huge down fall for me. It got me depressed (in addition to the medication side effects), unmotivated and unhappy because I felt lazy and felt like a fat blob because I gained some of my weight back. Plus, my endocrinologist upped my Metformin shortly after that so it felt like a double whammy to me. (My experiences with Metformin, even the extended release, are terrible…but we’ll talk about that at a later date)
As I mentioned in my earlier blog--my self-improving goal is to lose 10-15lbs by Christmas. I want to feel healthy again like I used to. By starting this blog, I think it’s motivating me even more and more and I’m excited to start the journey by counting calories, cutting out carbs/starchy foods and drinking MUCH more water. It’s something that every woman with PCOS should stick with, including myself.
In the next couple of blogs I’m going to track my daily fitness as well as the meals I eat, and attach some of my recipes for you all. I think it would be a motivation for not only me, but for all my fellow cysters!
“Take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again”. –Frank Sinatra
Before Medifast and After:
(Please excuse the before face as I was either crying or overwhelmed with joy because my brother was getting married)
