Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Update from the past couple of weeks

Sorry I haven’t been updating lately but things have been crazy. So here's an update from the last couple of weeks. I’m down 13 pounds now and 4.5in but its not easy. I have been doing pretty good with getting the 60 minutes of exercise everyday until the past week and a half.  The food thing is getting easier but I still struggle with it. My pain has increasing getting worse and today it went from little pain to a lot of pain. The pain is to the point that every step I take hurts but I’m still working through it. I don’t know that I’ll be able to make it tomorrow if it gets worse.  I’ve been email the nurse from SRM about the pain level and if they still wanted to do surgery or anything else. I have a phone appointment with her on the 6th to talk about options. 

I had a phone appointment with the nutritionist yesterday day and more information…So here’s some help out there for people dealing with the same thing……

Since I have pain that affects my exercise she gave me some ideas…(me being an occupational therapy assistant I should know how to adapt exercises but its so much easier when its not you.)
To try water exercise and to not to exercises that make the pain worse.
Do exercises on the coach use theraband or weight and just do arm exercises.

She also told me that PCOS is one of the hardiest disease to lose weight with…She said you should be proud of every pound you lose.

She told me again that I'm still not eating enough. She told me that on my bad days that I need to eat a min of 1200 cal and on more active days eat 1500 cal. There are days when I'm close to 1200 and then there days that I am down to 800 cal. I’m also not eating enough carbs. I need to stick to the 15-30 for a snack and 30-45 for a meal.

I have to admit I am a huge potato, ice cream and pizza person, there just my weakness. She told me to try to eat less potatoes and maybe eat some sweetpotato’s instead. I have been eating the new quakier bars but she wants me to eat more protein bars. I also need to increase my fruit and veggie intake….I did learn this…a ½ banana is a serving. She also wants me to
expand carbohydrate choices- Barilla plus pasta, quinoa, brown rice, whole what couscous etc and to try Healthy bars- Pure, Kind or Luna bars (that have protein). Of course her pizza recommendation…..She said the papa murphy's delights are wonderful but I told her my husband doesn’t eat them so I end up having 4 days of left overs.  She said to cut the pizza before you cook it and then freeze the rest so I’m going to have to try that out because I love the chicken and spinach delight from papa murphy's.

I also asked her for ideas on those days that you just don’t feel full. She told me this story about a very obese lady she worked with who did health at all. She got her to eat an apple before each meal…I was kinda confused because they have lots of carbs but it then made since. You can’t eat an apple fast and since it takes so long for the body to acknowledge that you are eating by the time your done eating your apple you body realizes that you are starting to get full. After the apple more to the veg of the meal and the protein and last the other carbs. By the time you get to the other carbs ur full…It totally works. She also informed me that if you don’t eat enough carbs that you will crave more carbs.

She also gave me another website to get ideas from…Last fact for today…..I can eat over the carb limit every once in a while and here's the tip….if a recipe says it has 54 carbs in a serving and has 14 grams of fiber you can do simple math…for every gram of fiber after the first 5 grams you can minus from the carb count….So I can still eat some of the food I want…YAYAYAY!!!!!!


that’s a couple of recipes but if you go back to the main site you can find more.

I'll try to update sooner...Until next time

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Update from the past week

I went to my follow up from my recent lab results and I've decided to try to control it without meds due to the risk the meds would have on a baby. I'm putting trust in gods hands that I can get through this without the meds with his help. God has been my biggest help through this battle. I look to him for answers and guidence in what to do in every sistuation.
I also talked with my doctor from SRM. She wants me to come back in December to see her again and redo all my lab work and if things look good then we can start the fertility meds. I'm giving my life to God and when he's ready I'll be ready and waiting and if this is not his plan then I pray that he well show me the right way. I have lots to work on and lots of battles to fight but I have the faith that god with give me the faith to fight them.

Quick boost of Faith

Anyone who is reading this who needs a boost of a faith or has forgotten the power of prayer or needs to find God again needs to watch the movie called Letters to God. It will make you cry but is the best movie I have watched in a long time that shows the power of faith and the power of prayer.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Glucose Tolerance Test

So this morning I had my glucose tolerance test and it didn’t go so well. To start the first draw off they have to poke me 4 times to get the blood. Then I had to drink that nasty juice. At the next blood draw 30 minutes they had to poke me 4 times again to get the blood. They were getting the veins but they just weren’t working. When I was waiting for the 3rd blood draw there was a little girl in the lobby that said “mommy why does that lady have so many pretties.” For the next two tests they started taking me back 10 minutes early so they could get the labs on time. Needless to say by the end I have needle pokes everywhere. When I got to work I wasn’t feeling very well so I took my blood sugar and it was down to 53 which I knew wasn’t a good sign of me passing the test. The good news is at least they know what’s going on. The nurse called later this afternoon and left me a message saying they got my labs back and I need to make an appointment and to tell them that the nurse said I need it ASAP. I have an appointment on Thursday so I’ll let you know what they say.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Wonderful Update...Good news for once

I started on at 232lbs and a waist of 52" and BMI of 42.7. My first goal was to get down 10lbs so I could get my BMI under 40 and 2nd goal to get to a BMI of 35 which means I need to lose 30 to 40lbs. It’s been 3 weeks since I've seen the doctor and not even a week since I meant with the nutritionist I am almost to a BMI of 40...40.7 to be exact and down 3" in my waist and down to 227.3lbs..I haven't switched everything over to my new diet but my goal this last week was 4 days of 60minute of exercise and my goal this week is 5 days of 60 minutes. I've have a ton of new recipes to try out that are high protein and low crab. I can't wait...Honestly I never thought I would actually lose enough weight to get my BMI down where she wants it because nothing else has ever worked but to be down 3" and only down 5lbs gives me tons of hope and it’s all coming off were it needs to before we wanted to start treatment. I think if I’m there before the end of the year I’m still goanna wait to I can be the healthiest possible. GO GO GO that’s all I can say I'm so motivated and if my husband doesn’t want to do it...it doesn't bother me anymore because I see my results. On Friday he was sitting on the couch eating pizza and chips and then wanted more food while I was exercising and normally I tell he needs to get up and do it too but I doesn't make me mad anymore because I'm doing this for 3 reasons...1 because I want to 2 because I need too to be healthy enough for a baby and 3 all for the hopes of another child. Thankful I have some family support but I would have to say my biggest support would be god...I also have wonderful coworkers and wonderful people from church who have been praying for me for a long time now and I thank them so much because things are finally turning around.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Nutrition Follow-Up

Labs

Glucose 118 (goal <100) Insulin 21 (<10)
Chol 193 normal
Triglycerides 173 (<150)
HDL 32 (>40)
Vit D 38- good

Goals and Recommendations from Judy

1. Recommend omega 3 supplement you may need 1-2 capsules to get a total of 1000 mg EPA/DHA. Nordic Natural Ultimate is a good brand. Costco is also good.

2. Meals: try to keep within 45 gm carbohydrate, 15-30 for snacks. Limit simple sweets; try to have whole grain products when available. Enjoy whole fruit rather than juice.

3. Exercise- 30 or more minutes daily, try to have 2 resistance training days- light weights or core work. DVDs are great to use at home or Wii fit!

4. Get adequate sleep and find time for relaxation!

5. Measure your waist monthly and record your progress.

My next appointment is Sept 28th so we’ll see how things go until then. I'm down 1lb from where I started but there are lots of changes happening. I'm trying to keep up with everything but I'm learning every day. I never knew that 1 cup of grapes had 34 crabs. I learn something new every day thanks to Nutrihand Wellness website. It’s so wonderful you can put your recipe in and it will tell you all the info you need to know.

Glucose Monitor Follow-up

I had my appointment on Thursday for the follow-up on my glucose monitor I wore for 3 days. The doctor said that all my levels were within normal range and since I didn’t have a hypoglycemic episode they have to do more test to see if they can find out what is happening. On Tuesday I have a 2 hour glucose tolerance test to see how I do. I already know I’m going to fail since my fasting levels are so high already. My blood pressure has been staying in the 130’s over 80’s with just 2 high readings which is good because I’m on the lowest dose possible right now and only taking it one time a day. They do know that the reason I’m having both of these issues are from having PCOS but they need to know what is going on so they can try to correct it. I’ll let you know how my 2 hour test goes on Tuesday.


Glucose 118 (goal <100) Insulin 21 (<10)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Nutrition Appointment

On Tuesday I meet with Judy Simon a PCOS nutritionist. She was very helpful and informative and willing to meet over Skype or the phone. Judy went through everything that I’ve done in the past what had and had not worked. Went through my current eating and exercise life and went through all medical situations. For those women out there with PCOS I would really have to recommend her. She charges $125 an hour but it is well worth it. She will help you out in between appointments and doesn’t charge. She gives you asses to https://www.nutrihand.com/Nutrihand/myNutrihandMP.do which is a really nice website. If you take the time to enter in your meals, exercise and meds she will look at them every Monday and give you hints, idea’s and things you can do to improve your diet. She will also give you recipe ideas and will answer any questions you have any time. I can’t say enough good things about this lady. She also gave me lots of handout to read and went over what I wanted to work on.


She informed me that my labs showed that I was at high risk for Diabetes but it did not indicate that I had it yet. My fasting glucose level is still high (117) and I need to get it under a 100. She told me that my iron store was a little low but not too bad but she was going to work it into my diet. She told me that she was not able to tell me everything from my labs until I talk with my doctor. So I’m hoping that the rest is good and there was nothing bad.

She put me on a high protein diet and wants me to increase my calorie intake. Right now an average day is 800 to 1000 calories. She wants me to eat an average of 1700 calories a day. I am supposed to eat 30 to 45 grams of carbs a meal and 15 to 30 grams of carbs a snack. She would like me to take an Omega 3 supplement since I won’t eat fish. She would like me to exercise 30 to 60 minutes totally a day with 2 days of resistive exercises, but that will vary depending on my pain level until my surgery.


Some tips for other about what she said…

Eat Oatmeal and Full grain wheat bread
Eat Fruit not Juice
Preferable no soda but if you have to diet soda
Use olive and canola oil when cooking
Eat small portions of nuts
You should eat carbohydrate foods with protein/fat
Example: Apple and Peanut Butter with cheese and whole grain crackers

I also have some hand outs for those who are interested

I meet with her again in a month

Will update later this week after my appointment with my doc about the glucose monitor results