Posts by hhaussler

Yeah - I'm making an appt. to get off of Yaz I think.  I've been on it for 3 months now.  I noticed the mood changes after the first month but I said I would stick it out for one or two more months to see if it actually did help my acne and to see if the mood side effects changed.  And they have not.  Plus, I all my friends swear by Yaz so I thought maybe I was just imagining it.  But oh no - since I was not a bipolar moody person last year when not taking BC pills and I'm suddenly extremely irrationally moody at times - I blame the pills.  So I think I'm going to try a different set or just go off of them totally.

And I'll see if my insurance will cover a nutritionist.  If it does I'll let you all know.

That's great that so many of you are still losing weight even with PCOS. 

I have not been doing tons of weight training b/c after reading posts by Menkor and others on the fitness site for CC, they advised that it will be too difficult to gain tons of muscle while in a calorie deficit.  So I am currently just strength training not to lose muscle.  Believe me, I've done quite a bit of research on the fitness end.  Even though I workout for a long time I still only burn 500 to 600 calories which puts me at a 800-1000 calorie deficit (at most). 

For the most part, my carbs are not very starchy EXCEPT pasta and potatoes.  So I'm going to try to cut those out of any dinners from now on.  This week I have started with just elimated carbs at dinner (just veggies and protein).  I think i may add in the vinegar suggestion someone mentioned earlier.  I'll see how that works over the next few weeks while I also limit my starchy carbs / sugar as well (then maybe I'll try to limit my calories even more while reducing a bit of the exercise).  Then I have my follow-up doctor's appt. to see how everything is going.  Then I'll either switch BC pills or get off of them all together. 

Something is bound to work for me sooner or later...

Thanks everyone! 

Just to clear up confusion, while many people do not have the actual ovarian cysts, I do - that's how they determined that I have PCOS.  They put me on the BC pills for two reasons - 1 - to see if it decreases the amount / size of the cysts and 2 - b/c I wanted something else to help my acne.  I get the x-rays tonight to see if the cysts have reduced with the BC pill, if they have not I am getting off of it. 

I forget now who said that the BC pill actually made it worse for them but it's interesting you say that.  1) misskariw - I too, since going on the pill have been depressed and seemingly totally bipolar.  It's really freaky.  I think I may have mentioned earlier - I actually start to cry when thinking about how moody I have been.  And this is on Yaz which all my friends swear by.  2) last year I lost weight - I have only had problems losing the weight since x-mas which, possibly NOT coincidentally, is the same time I went on Yaz to help w/ my acne and cysts.  Hmmmmmmmmm...... 

Oh and to answer the question of how I found out I had PCOS.  I was having dizzy spells a year or so ago so they took a full body scan (turns out it was just allergies) and found cysts in my ovaries.  They didn't dx me right away but have just been watching them.  BUT the cysts combined with lifetime problems w/ period regularity, acne, excess facial hair (but not too much), melasma (skin discoloration on face), and now trouble losing weight is what tipped them off.   

If anyone else with PCOS wants to share their thoughts go ahead!!

Thanks kckannen.  I'm going to ask my doctor about it.  Right now I'm just on birth control.  She wants to see if that helps.  I go back for an sonagram tomorrow so we'll see if that helps.  I do know that I think my hormone problems are getting worse even if the cysts are getting better.  Probably b/c of the birth control.  The other day I cried over the fact that I'm so moody I just break down and cry.  I'm like a hormonal pregnant woman I tell you.  ;o)

A while back my insulin was tested and it was fine but I read an article that if a woman is tested when she is not overly overweight, her levels may read normal unless she is having an attack at that time.  But I might was well get tested for that again while I'm at it.  Before being dx with PCOS I was getting my thyroid tested like every other month b/c of these problems so why not add in yet another test.  Ha.

Thanks again.

I don't mind getting advice that I don't want to hear.  I knew it was probably going to be something kind of "sucky."  Ha.  Thanks so much!  I have another doctor's appt. in a few weeks and I'm hoping that my medical insurance will pay for a nutritionist / dietician since studies show that a diet helps the symptoms.  I clearly need to be working with someone.  I should have known that I needed to do something like south beach.  They akin some of our symptoms to those of a diabetic so it makes sense.

Also - I assume from your eating plan that you eat things like whole grains -- oats, brown rice, etc. but just not white rice, sugar, etc.?  So is eating in this manner actually helping you lose weight?  Right now I have a small sweet tooth which is why I have FF Hot Cocoa and 10 calorie fudge pops on hand.  But if cutting out all sugar is what I have to do to not go up to 2-3 hours workouts, I'll do it.  Just not enough energy or time in the day for that everyday.  ;o)

Thanks again.

I know it's lots - BLICK - that's why I'm so frustrated.  LOL. I just started the 1 1/2 hours this week (mostly b/c 1/2 hour didn't work, 45 minutes didn't work, an hour didn't work) and so now I'm up to 1 1/2 hours.  I know your body can get used to it - so I do intervals.... walking and then walking uphill; walking uphill and extreme uphill; elliptical and larger amount of resistance on elliptical; walking and jogging; walking and running (like HIIT) so on and so forth.  No one day is the same. 

THEN - I've read peoples posts that if your working out and are still not losing weight then it must be what you're eating that is probably the problem.  So this past month I have been very careful and watched and recorded every little think that I eat.  Even on my "bad" days I'm at around 1800 calories.  That's still under my output and combined with my other days I should still be losing.  THEN I thought maybe my 2-3 cocktails on the weekend were causing me problems.  SOOOO I gave up drinking for the past month.  Still nothing. 

Am I doing something wrong or is there something else I should be doing b/c of my PCOS? Oh - I'm 5'0", currently 130 lbs, and a size 8-12 (depends on which crazy designer made the clothes). 

I love tomato, red onion, green peppers, mustard and my newest obsession - banana peppers.  YUMMY

Okay - I have my terms mixed up.  I get them now (although in my head I knew what I was talking about I just mixed them up on the post)

I still don't see how they are losing weight.  And when I mean losing weight, I mean 1-3 lbs per week.  Phord, I get what you're saying but I guess maybe I don't see how it's possible b/c for someone my size, it seems almost impossible to use that method.  According to this site, I burn 1600 just sitting around doing nothing.  So if I ate 1200 I should lose 1.5 lbs (ish) every two weeks.  Right? 

Maybe I just don't get it b/c it doesn't seem possible for someone as short as me (5') with 20-30 lbs to lose to use that method.  I would love to be wrong but the math doesn't seem to add up.  Am I doing something wrong?

Does anyone have any other calculators? 

Also - has anyone else found that the RMR on this site is a bit high?  I think I was on another site and they said my RMR (getting it right now marneedear - lol) was only 1388 vs. the 1600 on this site.

Could all the shorties out there give me an idea of their calorie intake per day and exercise output.  I currently take in 1400-1800 calories per day and I'm actually gaining weight / size even though I exercise 4-5 days per week (300-600 calories per day).  And if you're at 1200 calories per day can you give me an idea of what you're eating b/c I can't seem to get any day to be that low (especially since I try to eat 5 times per day). 

Thanks!

Thank you.  I realize that my diet has a lot to do with my success (or failure) but it does not seem to be the problem.  I eat 1400 to 1800 calories per day.  I exercise 300 to 600 calories per day.  All with anywhere from an A- to a rare B- or C rating (at time) usually I'm a B.  I workout more now than I have in years.  Last year I lost 20 lbs and worked out 1/2 as much as i do now.  According to cc I should at least be losing 1 lb a week but I'm not even losing 1 lbs every two weeks at this point. 

Does anyone have any answers to my fitness question?  Thanks.

Weights vs. spinning is totally different.  If cardio is what you're after then add in more cardio.  Cardio alone has been doing NOTHING for me so I just recently started adding in 3 days of full body weight training.  I THINK I am finally losing some inches.  Can't quite tell yet.  We'll see.

As far as "time" it's as much time as it takes you to complete a weight program.  There is no set time really. I thought that cc's exercise page had some good weight training programs that could be done anywhere including at home with bar bells.  Start w/ maybe 2-3 sets of 15 repetitions, resting 30 seconds to 1 minute in between sets.  Just go through each session you want to do.  I don't really know how to explain it.  Melkor and others on the fitness forum may be able to help you more with that.  Sorry I can't be more help.

I know this comes too late for you but some of my absolute favorites:

Cherry vodka / diet coke

Vanilla vodka / diet coke

Grape vodka / club soda

Peach vodka / ice tea (w/ or w/out sweetner)

YUM - but don't do the low calorie dinner!  If you do, you'll just end up binging when you get back.

I appreciate you letting me know what has worked for you.  I have to say if you're body responds to the real fast weight loss program like my body did last night, I'm not sure you're going to have the enery for HIIT after you complete it.  My legs still felt like Jello from it this morning.

Oops - ignore the poor grammar typos.  It appears I can't spell or type today.

I generally only get really sore if I don't take the proper time to stretch.  Take some time off, do some cardio, stretch after to help the muscle heal.

But next time, make sure to stretch each muscle for a nice long time (after weight training I make sure to do long stretches).  Maybe 1 minutes for each muscle worked.  Since I've done this - I have yet to be sore enough where I could barely move.  You may still be sore but not that sore.

Hope this helps.