Six Months In!

Hi all,

So this is a post I wondered if I would ever make... This is not the first time I have attempted to lose weight using MFP. I failed miserably on my first attempt and have been really nervous about my weight loss. I have PCOS, and this condition haz caused me so much grief in many ways, apart from the weight gain as a side effect.

I have struggled with the reality of my condition at times throughout my journey and many times I wondered if I entered a plateau long enough, that maybe I would start gaining again. That fear, instead of demotivating me, actually kick-started me into digging deeper. I found out that although I tolerate dairy and some sugar ok (I'm not insulin resistant as confirmed by regular fasting glucose tests, though many close family members are Type II diabetic) I appear to have huge problems with complex carbs like breads, pasta, cereals and eating potatoes too often. I can still tolerate potatoes if I make them a once a month treat, the other foods cause me uncomfortable and sometimes painful digestive issues and contribute to weight gain. I have discovered although PCOS is a common endocrine disorder - like hypothyroidism - everyone is different with their levels of grain tolerance and insulin resistance.

Well, I set myself a goal to lose just over 20 kg (40+ lbs) in July and I am just a few kilos shy of my GW of 57 kg (I set it to 60 kg originally and I must change that on my ticker soon) and then discovered that it's still overweight in my BMI/height range! lol! So I'm looking at another 4 - 5 kg to get to goal weight. Hope I'm not letting the horse out of the stable too soon with writing about it. I have worried a lot about getting closer to my goal without stalling. What I'm doing seems to be working so I wanted to post and say a big THANK YOU to all of you and My Fitness Pal for encouraging me to stay on track with both my daily diet and exercise

Looking after yourself and eating well really does pay off over time. I felt that the 6 months I have been working on this so far have been really good progress and I want to inspire others by finishing this post with this one thing I found really helpful:

If you find one method of losing weight is stalling and the waiting game is turning into a plateau - shake things up, try something new in your exercise regime or take a closer look at either your diet method (some things work better than others for different people) and also what foods you are eating. I am not patronizing anyone with this either, what I mean is... some foods cause an allergic reaction - and sadly, these can be foods we really love and are just unaware that they cause our bodies distress. No food is "bad" in particular but we all have different systems and I've discovered that taking care of your weight and health inspires you to "listen" to your body's signals. Perhaps this only applies to those of us with allergies but I have lived my entire 37 years on this planet unaware that I had any food allergies at all. I waz only diagnosed with PCOS when I waz 35 and TTC at the time so this weight loss journey haz been a learning curve for me. Although I knew some things from my diagnosis about the hormonal issues, I have never really battled with my weight until recent years and before I got to my heaviest of 79 kg (174 lbs) this year I waz unaware that PCOS may have been one of the main culprits.

I will post pics at some point... I did not take many photos/vids of myself when I waz over-weight, due to my shame but I'm so close to my goal that it's starting to be quite obvious to everyone I know. Again, thank you all so much for your kind advice and patience with my (sometimes desperate) questions about how to keep my weight loss going, without gaining!

Aroha from NZ

Sadi