About

I am a current sufferer of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). After many years of dieting, exercising, and doing whatever I could to try to lose weight, I realized that I needed some help. I've struggled with weight all of my life and nothing ever seemed to work for me, despite hours at the gym, healthy eating, and determination. I joined Dr. Bernstein on January 5, 2010 when I finally realized that I needed help in order to feel better and manage the symptoms of PCOS.

June 15, 2010

Maintaining

Well, I haven't forgotten to write.  I've just been saving it up for when I had something useful to write!

I've been on the maintenance plan 1 week tomorrow and am so far maintaining my weight.  It goes up 1 lb then down 1 lb, then up, then down.  I think my body is in a bit of shock mode right now since I can eat quite a bit more.  I have to admit though...having that bit of extra freedom makes it even harder to stay on track and to avoid temptation!  I'm trying to keep my goal in mind though and am working hard on trying to stay motivated, even when my loving husband eats junkfood around me!  I realized I can't stop the world from eating badly or eating foods I cannot have so I am learning to focus on other things when these situations arise.

This week I have started exercising again.  We have been taking our dog out and we did a 1 1/2 hour walk yesterday and even did hills! I cannot believe how much easier it is to exercise being 63 lbs lighter! Normally I would be gasping for air when I got to the top of a hill but this time I was like, "that was it? That's all you got? I need more hills!".  So there you go. A proven fact that weight causes exercise to be much more difficult!  And losing weight makes it much more enjoyable!

So far I've been allowed to eat unlimited vegetables (with the exception of peas, carrots, corn, potatoes, and rice which come in week 4).  I've added avocado to my diet which I am really enjoying.  I put it in my salads and in my new dip that I make with fat-free plain yogurt and Epicure spices.  Believe it or not, I love eating veggies! My new favourite lunch is cut up peppers, celery and cucumbers with 4 oz of fat-free plain yogurt and some herb/garlic Epicure seasoning with a tiny bit of avocado mixed in (I'm not indulging much with the avocado since it has quite a bit of fat in it).    For dinner I have a Compliments turkey burger or chicken breast (3.5 oz or 6 .5 oz depending on my lunch) with 1 oz of part-skim mozzerella cheese and more vegetables (lately my husband, the cook in the household, has been doing my vegetables on the bbq which make them taste so much better).  For breakfast I'm still having my yummy egg white omelete. 

Tomorrow I can add in 2 additional slices of wholewheat bread or 1/2 wholewheat bagel.  However, I'm not sure if I need to go back to eating bread again. I have a feeling that my system doesn't do well with bread and a lot of carbs. If I can avoid bread I will.  However, knowing that I can have it if I want is always nice.  I haven't had a sandwich in a very long time so it might be nice for a change here and there.

My mom gave me a great idea for a workout to do at home.  She said to buy a pilates DVD and do it at home.  B/c I still have to get weighed once/week, I don't want to start lifting weights right away b/c I build muscle so fast and lots of it (unfortunately, that's my build and is caused by the excess tetosterone from my PCOS).  As I will start to gain a bit of weight from the increased muscle, the clinic will think I've gained weight from eating too much and will not be very happy with me!  So if I can get some toning in without gaining weight, which I really need at the moment, then I'm going to stick with that...along with my 1 1/2 hour walks with my husband daily!  Just getting outside and moving around again feels wonderful!  Hopefully we can get to 2 hour walks daily!  That is my goal since walking is so good for you!

Well, not much else to report.  I will report back in a weeks time with some updates on the addition of more food and how much weight is doing.  I'm just hoping I can keep it steady and that it doesn't go up!  I'm pretty scared about all that since I've worked so hard to lose it.