Doctor's Office Victory!

VelvetKey

Anyone who has talked with me about my general health knows that I was diagnosed with PCOS a few months ago; at my heaviest I was 260. Before I got strict with MFP and before my doctor prescribed Metformin, I lost 10 lbs. all on my own in about a month.

After I started taking Metformin, the weight loss seemed to take longer (I think because I didn't give myself enough mini-goals when I was starting out and I demanded more progress for all the effort I was making!).

However, it also came to light that MFP (through a programming glitch) hadn't decreased my calorie count when I DID lose another 10 lbs. I really think that had something to do with it.

Another problem was when I went for a check-in with my doctor. I am very, very bad about taking my Metformin with meals. I generally have no problem remembering to take my meds when I get up, but for some reason right after meals I always, always forget. But with my roommate's help, I managed to start taking it consistently for about a week, right up until my dr.'s appointment. I did NOT significantly drop a whole lot of weight in that week, but I was fine with any scale movement.

Enter the turning point: the doctor looked at the 7 lbs. I'd lost in the 4 weeks I'd been to see her and said (to me it seemed almost dismissive): "It looks like the medicine is working."

:sad: I had been busting my rear with exercise, clean eating, the works! I'd only been taking the Metformin for 7 days consistently. Maybe it should have broken my little heart and had me make even better friends with Metformin since that was supposedly all that was causing my weightloss. Well, instead of that, my doctor made me ANGRY.

I quit taking Metformin and bought the 30 Day Shred! (In hindsight, I was reacting like a toddler, and I can admit it now. Do NOT take this as medical advice! This is just my story.)

I told myself that in another 4 weeks I was going to lose 10 lbs instead of just a measly 7 and then watch the look on my dr.'s face when I told her I wasn't taking the medicine. Thankfully, before I lashed out as a four-year-old might, I had to cancel the appointment due to financial reasons. This somewhat deflated my anger over being dependent on a drug for weight loss.

I also began to weigh myself three times a day to see how I fluctuated. I quickly discovered that I lost more weight and kept it off on the days I drank at least 6 glasses of water (doesn't that seem backwards??).

At the beginning of this month, I added 170 daily crunches to my exercise routine (45 minutes of walking) in place of the 30 DS. I had to go in to the dr.'s this morning for a prescription renewal/check-up and was diagnosed with asthma while I was there. HOWEVER...the doctor's scale told me I was 223.2. The last time I was there in September it was 240.

Numbers do not lie, particularly when they go on file with the doctor's office. And I was able to look the charming PA right in the face and say, "I have trouble remembering to take Metformin. So I don't take it pretty much at all."

And the PA (who now I will gladly go see instead of my dr.) said, "What are you doing?"

"Well, let me tell you about this free website called MFP..."

And when I was done, she said, "That's great! You're doing it the best way, by watching calories."

I walked out of that appointment feeling vindicated. And just plain awesome.


Note: I am going to try and include a picture from my profile; I hope it works! (The dress in the second picture was bought in June, before I knew I was going to drop 39 lbs. before the wedding, and I didn't get it tailored to fix the bagginess. I promise I do look a little better; but at least the loss shows in my face...I hope!)

elissascotland

Great loss! Well done on all the effort you are making, and losing so much weight.

You're inspirational