Weight: 160 (Total weight loss of 5 lbs)
Size: Lost 2"
Status: Concrete is dry mannnn
Sorry I've been MIA for a good 15 days but life's been a little crazy. Got a new position at work, I've been trying to save money to pay off some credit cards (woe is the constant tale of this economic bull), save up to have major work done on my car and eventually move back to Boston and get a little black French Bulldog Terrier named Pepe.
So far, even without really dieting (minus the whole lactose free tune) I've lost 5lbs and 2" in just 3 weeks being back on Metformin (only for a week) and doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred for a little less than a month. The fat deposit that you get between your breast and your arm, totally gone (strapless anything will look sexy now), my arms are no longer shameful and actually have definition (YAY!), my back rolls (aka my backside boobs) are disappearing and the cellulite on my buttox and thighs is slowly turning into muscle. All for just a workout that only takes 17 minutes a day! No one can make up an excuse to not take 20 mins out of their day to do something, it's so easy and now that I know it by heart I just do it to music instead of following the video. I'm going to try to stay away from sugar cause I slipped up a little bit and it seemed to make the dark spots around my neck return even with the Metformin, so I'm trying to stick to the low carb, low sugar, high protein, lactose free diet. So basically anything from the ground and all whole wheat if I'm having carbs. I'll keep you all updated and let you know how I do. If I stick to the diet for once, combined with the Metformin and how well I'm doing with the exercise, I could be skinny by my birthday (October 30th)! Once it becomes more noticeable, I'll be sure to post pictures, of both the weight loss AND my skin. The lactose free does seem to be working but the best thing I've discovered in the last couple of weeks is this makeupalley.com. I've already found one fantastic trick for a toner and it's completely annihilated my black heads. I do half Apple Cider Vinegar and half water in a small measuring cup for measuring medicine (aka a shot glass size) and doing it twice a day, my skin's never looked better! The website rates all kinds of stuff, discovered it thanks to my fantastic friend/hairdresser Miss Jessica, and I've already discovered two things I love from it (the other being MAC's mascara Primer... loveeee). If you suffer from bad skin, it's definitely a great place to get ideas for what to buy. It's all consumer reviewed. Check it out! That's all for now ladies, fearless leader signing off.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
A Lacstose Update
Day 7
Weight: No change
Size: No Change
Exercise: Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred
So far I've gone cold turkey since last Saturday and have yet to have anything that has lactose in it... or so I thought. A good friend of mine made a good point that we are supposed to be Lactose Intolerant by nature. She stated that we are the only animal that drinks the milk of another. I had also discussed with her that I couldn't eat dairy, including eggs but she wasn't sure if that was something that had lactose in, turns out it's not (which is good cause I love me some eggs) However, turns out there's a lot of food I thought I could eat that I can't. Bottom line it's going to be more important now more than ever to pay attention to labels. I will say though that even after just six days of pretty much no lactose, my arms are already starting to clear up. The Keratosis Pilaris seems to be abating. I will start taking pictures to keep a documentation of how it clears up. My face is still fairly broken out but seems to slowly be healing. I still have some decent blockage in my T-zone but I'm assuming that will take the longest to clear up.
Thanks to the advice of my dear friend Kelli, I finally called and set up my mail order prescriptions and will be receiving my Metformin next week. I'll get right back on my regiment of taking it properly in the hopes that my stomach will shrink to it's normal size.
Weight: No change
Size: No Change
Exercise: Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred
So far I've gone cold turkey since last Saturday and have yet to have anything that has lactose in it... or so I thought. A good friend of mine made a good point that we are supposed to be Lactose Intolerant by nature. She stated that we are the only animal that drinks the milk of another. I had also discussed with her that I couldn't eat dairy, including eggs but she wasn't sure if that was something that had lactose in, turns out it's not (which is good cause I love me some eggs) However, turns out there's a lot of food I thought I could eat that I can't. Bottom line it's going to be more important now more than ever to pay attention to labels. I will say though that even after just six days of pretty much no lactose, my arms are already starting to clear up. The Keratosis Pilaris seems to be abating. I will start taking pictures to keep a documentation of how it clears up. My face is still fairly broken out but seems to slowly be healing. I still have some decent blockage in my T-zone but I'm assuming that will take the longest to clear up.
Thanks to the advice of my dear friend Kelli, I finally called and set up my mail order prescriptions and will be receiving my Metformin next week. I'll get right back on my regiment of taking it properly in the hopes that my stomach will shrink to it's normal size.
Monday, September 5, 2011
You Are Beautiful, Cysts, Hair Loss and All...
Day 3
Weight: No Change
Size: No Change
Exercise: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred
Construction Status: Laying the Concrete
For the married women, you've already been lucky enough to find a someone who accepts you for you, for all us single gals, I know it's a constant worry. For my symptoms, I suffer from hair loss (I've lost about 75% of my hair), cysts (when I have them I look about 6 months pregnant), and I have bad skin. Therefore, on my worst days I feel like an ugly 6 month pregnant (yes ugly cause you don't get the benefit of having the glow when there's just a cyst growing in there), balding chick with volcanoes all over her face. And even though no one else may notice it, you do and it certainly affects your confidence level on a daily basis. I'm only going to be happy and have a wonderful level of self esteem if I figure this out and that's what this is all about. Wouldn't it be wonderful to just work hard on your diet and exercise and then one day wake up and look in the mirror and see a normal person, not someone who has every unattractive feature possible staring back? You'd want to celebrate! Have a photo shoot, get dolled up, wear your sexiest dress and go out and go dancing with your girls. My hope for you all is that you find the right beat for you. We're are all beautiful on the inside and we deserve to be happy and have that beauty show on the outside.
Weight: No Change
Size: No Change
Exercise: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred
Construction Status: Laying the Concrete
For the married women, you've already been lucky enough to find a someone who accepts you for you, for all us single gals, I know it's a constant worry. For my symptoms, I suffer from hair loss (I've lost about 75% of my hair), cysts (when I have them I look about 6 months pregnant), and I have bad skin. Therefore, on my worst days I feel like an ugly 6 month pregnant (yes ugly cause you don't get the benefit of having the glow when there's just a cyst growing in there), balding chick with volcanoes all over her face. And even though no one else may notice it, you do and it certainly affects your confidence level on a daily basis. I'm only going to be happy and have a wonderful level of self esteem if I figure this out and that's what this is all about. Wouldn't it be wonderful to just work hard on your diet and exercise and then one day wake up and look in the mirror and see a normal person, not someone who has every unattractive feature possible staring back? You'd want to celebrate! Have a photo shoot, get dolled up, wear your sexiest dress and go out and go dancing with your girls. My hope for you all is that you find the right beat for you. We're are all beautiful on the inside and we deserve to be happy and have that beauty show on the outside.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
An Ode to Dairy
Day 2
Construction Status: Foundation
Weight: No Change
Size: No Change
Yesterday, finding out that I'm probably Lactose Intolerant finally hit me. No cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream, nuts, eggs, etc. Things like pizza, Greek yogurt, eggs, breakfast sandwiches, milk (I usually drink a LARGE glass of milk almost every day and have cereal for breakfast), ice cream with fresh fruit and chocolate hard top, anything Delmonico, anything chocolate, ohhhhh chocolate!
On the flip side though, the benefit is actually having skin! If this works, if the fact that I'm Lactose Intolerant proves to be true then it means I'll actually have beautiful skin. One thing that doctors always seem to call this disorder is cosmetic. We can never get health insurance coverage on the proper medications, etc because insurance doesn't cover anything cosmetic related. I probably could have gotten laser treatment or something to get rid of the bumps that cover 75% of my body but insurance definitely will not cover it, just like they refused to cover the proper medication for my hair loss but said that once I went bald they do cover wigs, HAH! I would rather look good, have my skin, have my hair, have my natural body weight and feel a little sicker than I do now, than look the way I do. If this was my fault, if I was a true fat kid and I didn't exercise or eat fairly healthy, naturally I would be disappointed in myself and try to change it but the most frustrating thing about this disease is that it's very hard to find a balance for what works to change your body. Now to add taking out pretty much all of my favorite foods just so my skin can look normal, it's upsetting.
The thing that bothers me more than anything is the fact that doctors are willing to help but at the same time they seem to have an 'oh well' attitude towards it. No one, except for MAYBE Australia has tried to do a study on it, which boggles my mind because it's directly related to heart health. If this is true, heart disease is the number one killer of women. Who knows if a lot of the women who have died from it had PCOS? How many lives would have been saved if doctors actually paid attention and looked into this disorder more. This disorder is constantly surrounded by frustration on all sides. They should just say right upfront that there probably won't be any real progress regarding the disorder in your lifetime and if there is, it'll probably be when you're far past your prime. Sorry we've screwed with your happiness for the better part of your life, but hey we found a solution now. Everyone deserves a full and happy life as a carefree gorgeous woman, and this disorder really puts a damper in all of it. People can tell you you're gorgeous but besides my face, I've never really felt it. We all deserve to feel it. If the cruise comes to be, I've decided we need to take tons of pictures in which we ALL look hellah sexy! Until next time my cysters.
Construction Status: Foundation
Weight: No Change
Size: No Change
Yesterday, finding out that I'm probably Lactose Intolerant finally hit me. No cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream, nuts, eggs, etc. Things like pizza, Greek yogurt, eggs, breakfast sandwiches, milk (I usually drink a LARGE glass of milk almost every day and have cereal for breakfast), ice cream with fresh fruit and chocolate hard top, anything Delmonico, anything chocolate, ohhhhh chocolate!
On the flip side though, the benefit is actually having skin! If this works, if the fact that I'm Lactose Intolerant proves to be true then it means I'll actually have beautiful skin. One thing that doctors always seem to call this disorder is cosmetic. We can never get health insurance coverage on the proper medications, etc because insurance doesn't cover anything cosmetic related. I probably could have gotten laser treatment or something to get rid of the bumps that cover 75% of my body but insurance definitely will not cover it, just like they refused to cover the proper medication for my hair loss but said that once I went bald they do cover wigs, HAH! I would rather look good, have my skin, have my hair, have my natural body weight and feel a little sicker than I do now, than look the way I do. If this was my fault, if I was a true fat kid and I didn't exercise or eat fairly healthy, naturally I would be disappointed in myself and try to change it but the most frustrating thing about this disease is that it's very hard to find a balance for what works to change your body. Now to add taking out pretty much all of my favorite foods just so my skin can look normal, it's upsetting.
The thing that bothers me more than anything is the fact that doctors are willing to help but at the same time they seem to have an 'oh well' attitude towards it. No one, except for MAYBE Australia has tried to do a study on it, which boggles my mind because it's directly related to heart health. If this is true, heart disease is the number one killer of women. Who knows if a lot of the women who have died from it had PCOS? How many lives would have been saved if doctors actually paid attention and looked into this disorder more. This disorder is constantly surrounded by frustration on all sides. They should just say right upfront that there probably won't be any real progress regarding the disorder in your lifetime and if there is, it'll probably be when you're far past your prime. Sorry we've screwed with your happiness for the better part of your life, but hey we found a solution now. Everyone deserves a full and happy life as a carefree gorgeous woman, and this disorder really puts a damper in all of it. People can tell you you're gorgeous but besides my face, I've never really felt it. We all deserve to feel it. If the cruise comes to be, I've decided we need to take tons of pictures in which we ALL look hellah sexy! Until next time my cysters.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
my story. inspiration. inception.
In the Spring of 2003, life took a turn for the difficult. I was playing a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz in a high school musical and overnight it seemed I gained 20 pounds, I looked like a chipmunk and I had gorgeous white stretch marks to prove it. Where one chocolate chip cookie would have sufficed, I found myself stuffing my face with numerous small homemade cookies (brought in on a daily basis by a friends mother who was cooking for the theater crew) and when I got home from school the frenzy didn't end. Ramen noodles became my afternoon snack addiction, with at least one if not two packages consumed prior to dinner. Before I knew it I was at the tailors having the dress I purchased for my aunts wedding two years earlier being let out up to two sizes for my Junior Prom... I looked like the Feather duster from Beauty & the Beast because they had to add elastic to the top of the dress and put a ruffle in to hide it. What hit home even more so was the fact that my date didn't even dance with me the entire night, in fact I think he only talked to me on the ride there and ride back. How could I blame him though? He probably thought he was going to Junior Prom with the cute, petite girl he remembered from the year prior.
One day while flipping through my Seventeen Magazine, I stumbled across a story about a girl, not unlike myself, who seemed to have all the same symptoms I had. I always knew something was wrong with me more than just common teen problems and an eating disorder which is exactly what my family chalked it up to be. On a daily basis both my brother and father were yelling me, saying I was fat and that I should stop eating. Everything I put in my mouth was a grenade, it only fueled the problems on both the inside and the outside. When I confided in my mother, she thought it was me simply acting like a teenager, being sensitive, moody and crying all the time. I knew even before I read the article that what I was experiencing was completely abnormal. After reading the article I knew I wasn't crazy, I knew the way I felt wasn't just my imagination. After one trip to the ob/gyn diagnosed with a simple blood test, it was confirmed that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It was frustrating because I presented all the generic symptoms of the disorder to my physician, of course what I hadn't realized is that 1 in 10 women have it and don't even know it. It's in the top 10 of most undiagnosed diseases in the world, second to HIV.
Thanks to a sweetheart talking about hair loss and weight gain in the hallways of my college one day, I was inspired to create a group on Facebook. Not thinking about it for quite sometime, I went back and glanced at it one day and realized it had almost 2,000 women troubled with the same disorder as I did. This inspired me even more to do research and find out as much as I could about it to help them. Today that group that started with just me has grown to almost 6,000 women, thanks in large part to my awesome co-captain Miss Kelli. My original plan was just to find others and learn more about it but over the last two years it's grown into something more. I've been inspired and want to return the favor, but how can inspire when I'm sitting on my butt doing nothing and eating whatever I want... Here, now, I am making this promise to my fellow PCOSers, to the women on my site, I have created this blog to inspire you all. I have so far lost 25 pounds simply by watching what I eat and taking metformin but I am still 20-30lbs overweight. I'm at a breaking point where I either need to get on or accept defeat but for those who know me, you know I don't accept defeat.
The Plan: I am going to keep track of my diet & exercise, post all about it, post about my struggles, what symptomatic nuisance I am dealing with that day and keep you all posted on it. Maybe in some way, with my struggles and hopefully with my triumphant ending to all of this I will inspire you to GET ON instead of giving up. All we do is whine, doctors don't know what to do, so it's in our hands to figure it out. Well here goes nothing...
Day 1:
Weight- 165lbs
Size- 10 to 12
Construction status- planning stages!
Symptoms-Realized I'm most likely Lactose Intolerant, staying away from dairy, starting immediately. Haven't been on Metformin for a couple of months now due to insurance difficulties, etc and after talking to Kelli, realized that my stomach is growing despite my exercise and eating better, coming to the end conclusion that I need to get back on Metformin, STAT!
One day while flipping through my Seventeen Magazine, I stumbled across a story about a girl, not unlike myself, who seemed to have all the same symptoms I had. I always knew something was wrong with me more than just common teen problems and an eating disorder which is exactly what my family chalked it up to be. On a daily basis both my brother and father were yelling me, saying I was fat and that I should stop eating. Everything I put in my mouth was a grenade, it only fueled the problems on both the inside and the outside. When I confided in my mother, she thought it was me simply acting like a teenager, being sensitive, moody and crying all the time. I knew even before I read the article that what I was experiencing was completely abnormal. After reading the article I knew I wasn't crazy, I knew the way I felt wasn't just my imagination. After one trip to the ob/gyn diagnosed with a simple blood test, it was confirmed that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It was frustrating because I presented all the generic symptoms of the disorder to my physician, of course what I hadn't realized is that 1 in 10 women have it and don't even know it. It's in the top 10 of most undiagnosed diseases in the world, second to HIV.
Thanks to a sweetheart talking about hair loss and weight gain in the hallways of my college one day, I was inspired to create a group on Facebook. Not thinking about it for quite sometime, I went back and glanced at it one day and realized it had almost 2,000 women troubled with the same disorder as I did. This inspired me even more to do research and find out as much as I could about it to help them. Today that group that started with just me has grown to almost 6,000 women, thanks in large part to my awesome co-captain Miss Kelli. My original plan was just to find others and learn more about it but over the last two years it's grown into something more. I've been inspired and want to return the favor, but how can inspire when I'm sitting on my butt doing nothing and eating whatever I want... Here, now, I am making this promise to my fellow PCOSers, to the women on my site, I have created this blog to inspire you all. I have so far lost 25 pounds simply by watching what I eat and taking metformin but I am still 20-30lbs overweight. I'm at a breaking point where I either need to get on or accept defeat but for those who know me, you know I don't accept defeat.
The Plan: I am going to keep track of my diet & exercise, post all about it, post about my struggles, what symptomatic nuisance I am dealing with that day and keep you all posted on it. Maybe in some way, with my struggles and hopefully with my triumphant ending to all of this I will inspire you to GET ON instead of giving up. All we do is whine, doctors don't know what to do, so it's in our hands to figure it out. Well here goes nothing...
Day 1:
Weight- 165lbs
Size- 10 to 12
Construction status- planning stages!
Symptoms-Realized I'm most likely Lactose Intolerant, staying away from dairy, starting immediately. Haven't been on Metformin for a couple of months now due to insurance difficulties, etc and after talking to Kelli, realized that my stomach is growing despite my exercise and eating better, coming to the end conclusion that I need to get back on Metformin, STAT!
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