Day 162: Hormones

Remember a few posts ago when I mentioned I was reading books by Diana Schwarzbein and that I would share things that were interesting?  Well, here's the first post regarding my reading.

In my last post I talked about my youth and how my eating habits in high school, namely low fat/protein eating  caused problems.  In my reading today, it totally talked about it.

"Your hormones are the messengers between the different cells and systems of your body...for you to remain healthy, you need to keep your hormones balanced so they can communicate effectively with each other and with your cells, thereby keeping your metabolism working efficiently.

"In order to produce new hormones, you have to eat food that has the necessary material for your body to make them.  Because hormones are mainly made from proteins, cholesterol and essential fats, eating a balanced diet that includes these nutrients is essential for life balance."

Is it any wonder why a low fat/protein diet is so damaging? I'm of course not advocating a high fat or high protein diet. No way!  It's all about BALANCE!! You can't eat imbalanced portions of the macro-nutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates) and expect to be healthy.  It's impossible.  Sure, you might lose some weight, but at what cost? If you damage your metabolism, it will come back to bit you in the bum. Literally.

Day 160: Why is just as important as what.

Photo Credit

As I laid in bed this morning thinking about my current state of health and how frustrated I was, a thought occurred to me.  The same thing that is happening now, happened in my early twenties, nearly twenty years ago. (Yes, I just leaked my age, oh well...I tend to be an open book) Yep, at one point, I gained 40 pounds in 6 months during a time I was the most active in my life.  Noticing the similarities, I continued to analyse the timeline of my life.

I was a teen in the 90's.  I remember the HUGE craze then was a low-fat, high-carb diet.  I was in high school and I was very rigid with my eating.  I was also a size 6 who felt like I was a size 26. (If I could go back in time and kick myself, I would.) I remember eating very little fat, if any, and a whole bunch of carbs and Diet Pepsi. I remember my cycle was messed up and the Dr. gave me medication to fix it.  So during a time where my endocrine system and metabolism was developing, I was doing everything to work against it.

A body needs good fats to help build and strengthen every system needed to be alive and healthy.  I gave my body none, or at least I didn't give it the healthy kind when I had treats or a snack.  I also flooded my body with chemicals from soda and medicine.  What's sad is if I had been eating a balanced and healthy diet, I wouldn't have needed the medication to begin with. No wonder my body rebelled when I was 20, my endocrine system and metabolism were toast.  I had abused it without even knowing and it was ticked.

Now, twenty years later, I'm still dealing with the damage I incurred while I was developing in my youth.  I'm grateful that now I know better health habits so I can teach my children not just to eat better but why they would want to eat better.  I personally think the why is just as important as the what. You need to know what to put in your body so you can be healthy, but if you don't understand or know why, it's easy to make excuses.

I'm tired. * I don't feel good. *  Just this time. * It's a special day. * Tomorrow I'll do better. * Monday.

For me, when I know the why, the why will squash the excuses and reveal how lame and flimsy they really are, giving me a better chance of winning.

Day 159: Catching up after a few weeks.

Hello! Just thought I would pop in real quick and catch up with my blog.  I feel like it's been months since we've connected. ;)

During the last few weeks things have been crazy.  My husband's mom lost her battle with cancer and we had a quick trip to Utah for the funeral.  It was a sad time, but also a happy one as family from all over the states gathered together and had a few days to catch up.

As for me personally, I am uber frustrated with my body.  I feel like it's waged war against me! I'm very grateful for the ability to workout every day with my elliptical and I fear what I would look/feel like if I wasn't.  As I mentioned in the last post, I have had PCOS for most of my life.  When I was first diagnosed, the biggest concern was that I would never be able to have children.  Now looking back as a mother of four children, I know it was through my diet and a little help from the medical world with progesterone, I was able to get pregnant after a year of effort.

One thing I learned from my OB/GYN was that PCOS disappears while pregnant. Over the last 12 years, I was pregnant about every three years and I didn't really see a lot of my PCOS symptoms. It was actually easy for me to lose weight, especially when I was breastfeeding.

Our youngest is 2 1/2, in the past, this would be the time I would typically be having another baby, but since I'm not, something else is happening.  My PCOS is coming back in full force!  According to the scale, I'm up 7 pounds from last week.  SEVEN POUNDS in a WEEK???? The sad thing is that I didn't do anything to bring this on! No binge, no buffet, nothing but regular eating and exercising.  Part of me wants to curl up and actually do the binging I've already gained the poundage for, but I'm not.  *tempted* But I'm not.

So what's the plan? I am going to wear sun dresses now that it's warm. I refuse to go out and buy larger sized clothes, it's depressing.  My current clothes are snug and the way it feels makes me want to eat to comfort myself, which isn't good since I'm already tempted. (see above)  Sun dresses are cute and comfortable.  I don't know how I'll look, but at least I can feel comfortable while I make some tweaks to my lifestyle.

I've read a few chapters of my Schwarzbein and the science always fascinates me and supports my own thinking of health.  No chemicals, all natural, nourish your body and eat WHOLE foods.  The reason I LOVE to read these books is because of the science.  Over time, I forget the details of the science that shows me WHY I want to eat/live this way.  (For instance, I forgot just HOW important stress reduction and adiquate sleep was to endocrine system health--oops!)  Dr. Laura Schwarzbein is also an endocrinologist which means she has specific suggestions to help with endocrine issues, which PCOS is.

Weight loss and total health is a journey! Right now, I've hit one of the bumps and that's okay.  If it weren't for the rough spots, the happy times wouldn't be as exciting. :D

Day 139: The Schwarzbein Principle

I think about blogging all the time, but as you can see by the dates, I dont quite make it to Blogger to post  these thoughts. I'm not going to promise to do better, because I don't make promises that I might not be able to keep and right now, I know I can't keep that promise if I made it.

Lately, my body is doing something weird. I'm still working out everyday and my eating hasn't changed (it's kept me maintaining for over a year) but something isn't right.  In the last month, I've started to gain weight.  Last time this happened I was binging a lot at night, so understanably, I gained weight rapidly.  But this time, there is no logical explanation that I know of.  I contribute it to two possible things:

1. I've reached that age where my metabolism takes a dump since I'm on the downside of 30.

                                                                           OR

2. My PCOS has decided to wage a greater war against me due to the extra stress I've been under.

As I write this, I'm thinking it's probably a combination between the two.

What's the plan? Several years ago, I read The Schwarzbein Principle.  It's a series of books I highly recommend if you have PCOS.  The author, Diana Schwarzbein, had PCOS when she was younger and she reversed it through a healthy, non chemical, real food diet.  I read the whole series, I even got the cookbook, but I never really had a chance to try it out for weight loss because I got pregnant about a month after I changed my eating habits. 

Needless to say, it's been two babies since I read the books and I need a refresher.  I'm going to brush up on the details so I can fine tune my eating to tackle my current issue. I'm not promising, but I'll probably naturally blog more often because I'll want to share what I'm reading.  (I tend to do that when I'm excited about something.) Especially since I know many of my readers have PCOS too.

Baked Swiss Chard - An Experiment

A few months ago I talked about baked Brussel`s Sprouts and how surprisingly yummy they were.  Since then, we've discovered something even better--the leaves.

On the first batch, I removed all the loose leaves that fell off when I cut them in half assuming they would burn. By the second batch, I was in a rush and tossed everything on the pan, loose leaves and all.  To our surprise, the little leaves didn`t burn, they got crispy and tasted as good as chips!! 

When I make them now, I actually peel the outermost leaves from all of the sprouts so I can maximize the crispiness of the batch.  The youngest kids who are still not impressed with baked sprouts actually beg for the "crispy leaves." Little do they know they also pack nutrition. *snickers*  But who am I kidding? We all fight over them!!

This past week I saw a recipe for, "Baked Kale Chips." It looked super yummy based on my experience with the baked sprout leaves.  Not having any Kale around though, I decided I would substitute Swiss Chard since I have pounds of it growing outside in our garden.  I also omitted the seasoning packet since they often include MSG and other noxious chemicals. 

The experiment:

Swiss Chard with the ribs removed, chopped coarsely,
covered with olive oil, salt & pepper. (Approx 8 cups)

Bake at 300' for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. 

Crispy like a chip but packed full of nutrition.  The kids gobbled them up.

A little about PCOS.

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and it effects 1 in 15 women. I personally was diagnosed with this seventeen years ago and also know several ladies who have this. It's so common, chances are you or someone you know has it too.

Woman can have one or all of the following symptoms:

• Acne
• Weight gain and trouble losing weight.
• Extra hair on the face and body. Often women get thicker and darker facial hair and more hair on the chest, belly, and back.
• Thinning hair on the scalp.
• Irregular periods.  Often women with PCOS have fewer than nine periods a year.  Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding.
• Fertility problems.  Many women who have PCOS have trouble getting pregnant (infertility).
• Depression

List from WebMD

It's not the worst thing to be diagnosed with, but it is time consuming to deal with.  Doctors don't understand why a woman gets this syndrome and they know even less about treating it so they prescribe drugs to manage each symptom.  At 20, my medicine cabinet resembled that of a grandparent. Little orange bottles of various sizes lined the shelves and it was overwhelming to not only look at but to keep track of when to take those little pills.

One day I looked at my future and I realized that the various medicines I had perscribed to me were for asthetic purposes.  At that time, I decided I would spare my liver and spend more time either in front of the mirror plucking or finding the right cleanser to control my acne.

Nearly two decades later and I still don't take anything for my crazy symptoms since they have remained topical. I am grateful for this since women with PCOS are likely to have heart and diabetic issues. I hope to continue to avoid such health issues by paying attention to my body now.

As for weight loss, PCOS does make it more challenging, but it doesn't make it impossible. Weight loss efforts can be effective if I put the focus on my exercise and eating and understand there is no wiggle room.  Gone are the days where weight just "accidently" disappeared because I was too busy to eat. I know if I eat a chemical free diet, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep, my body will respond as I expect it to whether I have PCOS or not.

*I plan on discussing further in future posts. 

Life is precious

I have a friend whose diet was impeccable and taught yoga.  She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, always fashionable with a bright smile.  Her lifestyle was the epitome of health and someone I looked up to as an example.  You can imagine my surprise when she unexpectedly passed away this week at  age 49 from cancer.  She was by far, the healthiest woman I know and now she's gone.

A question that crossed my mind was, "Why put forth all the efforts to be healthy if you could die early anyway?"   I mean, if you are going to get a life threatening illness young, why spend all that time checking labels, chopping produce and searching for tasty and healthy recipes so you can live longer? I felt a little guilty when I entertained that thought for a few moments longer than I should, but after talking to others, I found that it was a pretty common thought.

So what is the answer? It's simple. If I was currently diagnosed with a life threatening illness, I would beat myself up. "Why didn't I eat better? Why didn't I workout harder? Why didn't I just DO better? I do pretty good, but I admit I could do a whole lot better! As for my friend, I really doubt if she berated herself with such questions. What peace that would be, knowing I did everything on my end, in the face of such heart breaking news.

I know everything in life happens for a reason, I honestly do.  I also know that there are consequences for every action taken.  More often than not, our lifestyles determine the quality of life we live and if we do our best in our health efforts, we will be rewarded.  Even with heart breaking news, if a life is lived to the best of our ability, we can still have peace.

My Latest Distraction

Lately, my workouts haven't been what I would like them to be.  When I go for 30 minutes, I get an awesome sweat going and I feel accomplished. I typically try for that time, but sometimes, I just don't make it. This usually happens when I get on the machine late and I'm tired.

A week or so ago, my kids were telling me about a new game they found on the computer.  It's called Plants verses Zombies. The name sounded ridiculous to me, but they were having so much fun and kept telling me I needed to look at it.  So I thought I would try it.  As it would so happen, I enjoyed the game.

When I hopped onto the elliptical earlier this week, I just didn't feel like reading or tweeting or doing what I usually do while exercising. I admit, I get bored sometimes... many times.  Sooo, what better time than to upload the game to my phone and play a few rounds. After what seemed like 10 minutes, the machine beeped that I was done with my 30 minute workout. I was shocked, but I wasn't done with the round, so I kept going.  15 minutes later, after all the zombies were dead, I hopped off feeling accomplished. I was dripping sweat and had finished a 45 minute workout that only felt like 10. :)

Find something you enjoy when you exercise, find a few things actually and switch it up.  Keep yourself entertained and you'll get a great workout every time!

You can play a few rounds of Plants vs Zombies online for free. Try not to get hooked...unless you can keep it for workout time. ;)  iPhone app: Plants vs Zombies.

Day 100

Although I've been working out for 100 days straight, I don't have anything outward to show. My weight has pretty much remained the same since the beginning of the year--I've been up and down the same five pounds on the scale. No great losses, no dress sizes smaller, no inches lost. Nothing really. But that's okay.


It's been a rough year. It seems like everyone is going through something, and for me, it's dealing with unemployment. My husband lost his job just about a year ago and it's been hard getting used to a schedule where he's home all the time and to live on a fraction of his old income. It's been disheartening to see him post resume after resume only to end up with nothing. No interviews. No interest. Nada. He has his MBA, a ton of experience, and it's still not enough to get a job during this economy.

I'm a stay at home mom who homeschools our kids. I have to admit, the thought has crossed my mind to enroll the kids in school and find a job. But would the gain of a job make up for the loss of what I currently have? Considering I haven't been in the work force for over 12 years, and none of my children have ever stepped into a school except for my oldest when he was enrolled in Kindergarten, I'm going to have to say, NO. The benefits of working are not greater for the things I would lose.

I'm an emotional eater. I admit, I have NOT been eating as well as I should. I know better, my degree is in Nutrition, but I traditionally deal with the difficult things in life through food. I'm so much better than I used to be, but I'm nowhere near where I'd like to be. I am thrilled to say that although I haven't been eating as well as I should, I haven't binged like I have in the past. Considering my personal stress levels, I could have easily packed on 50 pounds the past 12 months--trust me--but I haven't, and I contribute this to the fact that I have a goal that has nothing to do with eating, or the scale, or what size jeans I wear.

Being successful with a goal that has nothing to do with eating gives me validation. It reminds me that even though I may not have complete control over what I'm eating, I can still feel like I'm accomplishing something with my workouts. For me this is huge, it's helping me maintain during a time I could easily be out of control.

I'm hoping that during the next 100 days I will be able to make better choices in my eating so I can maximize the benefits of the exercise I do each day. :)

A Small Favor...

In a previous post I mentioned an author by the name of Kaleb Nation. He's a huge inspiration in my life when it comes to writing and if there is an opportunity to return the favor, or to at least help him some way, I'm going to do what I can. :)

For the next seven days he's in the YouTube NextUp contest. (He's also a YouTuber when he's not busy writing books) 25 YouTubers will win $35,000 to help them in their YouTube careers. I can't think of anyone more deserving than Kaleb and I ask only a minute of your time to help him out.

For me, he helped me in the life changing moment when I realized I loved to write and wanted to pursue it more seriously. Now I'm trying to help out so he can have a life changing moment in his.

Watch the video--it explains more about the contest.

or

Simply go and vote by clicking HERE. (You can vote every day through the 8th)