Professor Smurlene's PCOS and Fertility Journal

[Smurlene]

Day 9

Lesson Learned: I don't think I can eat a whole cup of cooked oatmeal. Yesterday, when I had half a cup with two boiled eggs and some V-8 I was full and didn't really get hungry until my mid-morning snack. Today, I bumped up to a full serving and was starving by the end of breakfast. I suppose that part of it could be because I was watching TV (Steelers vs Colts....Yeah, Steelers!!) and they kept showing commercial for my favorite Italian restaraunt. They have the most delicious calzones ever. But, in any case, I will bump my portion back down to 1/2 cup cooked and integrate a fruit later in the day to get a serving and a half of grains and fruits each day.

[Smurlene]

So, I just finished calculating calories, fat, carbs and protein at fitday.com. I don't count any of this stuff myself. I just eat what I am supposed to and then enter it all in.

Anyway, I figured out that for the past nine days I have been on the diet, I have eaten about the same % of food each day: around 33% of each, somedays the protein is a little lower and the carbs and fat are higher, somedays the carbs and and protein are high and the fats lower, etc, but it is pretty much consistant. I also found that I am eating around 1,600 to 2,000 calories each day.

According to weight loss gurus, at my weight (323) I need to eat 4,789 calories per day to survive. So, that means I have a deficit everyday of over 2,000 calories. If you cut 500 calories per day from your diet, you can lose around 2 lbs a week (according to said gurus) that means that if I keep following this, I can lose around 6 lbs a week!! That sounds like a bit much. I guess it could potentially be more after I put in exercise. Hmmm. We'll see how this goes.

I think 2,000 calories a day is pretty safe, and according to fitday.com, I am eating the FDA recommended daily allowances of everything but Vitamin D. Anyone know how to get more Vitamin D?

[Smurlene]

So, I just finished calculating calories, fat, carbs and protein at fitday.com. I don't count any of this stuff myself. I just eat what I am supposed to and then enter it all in.

Anyway, I figured out that for the past nine days I have been on the diet, I have eaten about the same % of food each day: around 33% of each, somedays the protein is a little lower and the carbs and fat are higher, somedays the carbs and and protein are high and the fats lower, etc, but it is pretty much consistant. I also found that I am eating around 1,600 to 2,000 calories each day.

According to weight loss gurus, at my weight (323) I need to eat 4,789 calories per day to survive. So, that means I have a deficit everyday of over 2,000 calories. If you cut 500 calories per day from your diet, you can lose around 2 lbs a week (according to said gurus) that means that if I keep following this, I can lose around 6 lbs a week!! That sounds like a bit much. I guess it could potentially be more after I put in exercise. Hmmm. We'll see how this goes.

I think 2,000 calories a day is pretty safe, and according to fitday.com, I am eating the FDA recommended daily allowances of everything but Vitamin D. Anyone know how to get more Vitamin D?

[Smurlene]

Just wanting to sign in one more time before I go to bed. I am going to try to go to bed and fall asleep by 2:30 and get up at 9:30 for breakfast and Ellen. Kanye West is going to be on there tomorrow! Yes!

I have noticed that my stomach seems smaller or something. I can't eat big meals any more. It is just too filling. I feel stuff afterwards. I had a salad and a serving of chicken paprikash without the linguina and I was so stuff afterwards! I could hardly eat my snack. This is a good sign. Really good!

Plus, I haven't been compulsively jumping on and off the scale like I usually do. I figure that if I don't see a lower weight every single time I look, then I will be disappointment and think the SBD is not working. I know it is though because I have a lot more energy than I had just two weeks ago. Excercise will start on Wednesday now.

[sidapco]

Hi Smurlene!
Thanks for posting on my journal. I read your journal and couldn't stop crying. I too have had a real rough 2 years, but after reading your story I feel that I can't complain any more or feel sorry for myself. You really should write a book or go on Oprah!
My husband started having grand mal seizures the week I found out I was pregnant . At one point he was having 3 seizures a week - with no notice and sometimes we would end up on the ER because he would fall and hit his head and need stitches.
It's been almost 1 year since he started the medication that has saved our lives - he stopped having seizures and we are trying to put the peices of our lives back together. He lost his job when his seizures started so I had to return to work earlier that I wanted, and it's been hard to get over the resentment. We are in therapy and it's been getting much better.
For the last 2 years, I think I was so involved with his seizures and my daughter that I neglected myself and the weight just crept up on me.
I look forward to following your story as well!
Great job with losing 14 lbs in the first 2 weeks! I can't wait to go to the gym to weigh myself. I think it will work out better that I can't weigh myself every day.
Also, I looked at that site fitday and have signed up - it looks really handy.

Take care and continued success!
Sid

[Smurlene]

Sid--It must have been a really tough, anxiety-filled pregnancy when you dh started having seizures. My dh developed hemiplegici migraines (rare, but serious, migraines that cause parlaysis down on side of the body) and kept going to the ER because we thought he was having a stroke. It took quite a long time until they figured out what was going on with him. Eventually, he went on a betablocker and the episodes have been reduced in frequency and severity. I was so anxious during that time period because I just didn't know what was going to happen and when. How you kept it together while pg, I just don't know.

And I know what you mean about resenting your dh. My dh has severe depression that has gotten worse since the house burned down. He basically sat around and did nothing for a long, long time. He did not contribute to the household in anyway, he was always moping around, and he just couldn't get anything done that needed done. I began to resent him. I knew that it wasn't his fault, but I could help feeling so resentful given that I was working full-time, engaged in research, and tryng to take care of all of the finances and household duties. Thankfully, he began taking an anti-depressant around the time I went on SB, and he is doing better already.

I admire you for picking yourself up and moving forward. We are worth taking care of. I think sometimes it is easy for us, especially women, to remember that. I think that is really true when our dh needs us so much more than usual.

Maybe someday you'll see me on Oprah! I have always thought that if I could help someone with my life sorrows, then they wouldn't be so bad.

[Smurlene]

I am up! I feel asleep last night around 3:30 am after drinking a couple glasses of water. I woke up at 7 am to go to the bathroom (thank you, water), and here I am beginning my day on the boards. It is going to be rough today having gone with only 3 1/2 hours sleep, but it is worth it if I can stay up and go to be early tonight. I need to get back on track. I really like my 12:30 bedtime and 8:30 wake up time. I did that all last semester, and I felt well rested.

I had another wacky dream last night. This time, the urgent care clinic down the street called and said that they looked at my records for the past several times I had been there and noticed a disturbing pattern. I needed to come in immediately. Of course, this is an interesting dream because I have never had high blood pressure except for the rare occassion of being scared or irritated (though normally it drops in those cases). I am not sure what brought this dream on. I guess maybe it was from the book, Man Made by Ken Baker, I was reading last night. He was talking about his dad who weighed about as much as I did and had chronic health problems beginning at around my age. Of course, he smoked, drank tons of Pepsi everyday, and ate chicken wings and pizza nearly everyday. I don't do nor ever have done any of those things, so.... It could be because I am worried about my Mom. They found a density in her breasts and made her go in for a followup ultrasound on Friday. In any case, these dreams really suck!

So, here I am beginning day 10 on South Beach. I have not swerved from P2 once. I am very proud of myself. Today is a berry day, and I am excited. I love blueberries and strawberries in plain yogurt. Mmmmm.

[LegalBeagle]

Cutting 500 cals. a day IN THEORY will enable you to lose a pound a week (1 lb = 3,500 calories).

I think a safe estimate is that you will lose 1-2 lbs per week ON AVERAGE over the time you are on South Beach. I've been on for a year and a half and lost about 75, and I still have more than 30 pounds to go to get to goal.

There are many weeks I did not lose at all, even when following the plan properly. Exercise can make you gain lean muscle mass and sometimes you lose fat and gain muscle and the scale does not move downward when that is happening.

My best advice is not to get in a hurry. You did not get where you are in a hurry; nor will you take it off in a hurry. Rather, you want to safely lose 1-2 lbs per week on average to get to goal.

I am not trying to discourage you, I just don't want to see you set yourself up to expect to lose 6 pounds a week when in all likelihood, it won't happen that way. It might, but probably not. And I don't want you to get discouraged.

You have the entire rest of your life to get to goal. The health benefits of this way of life will be more immediate, though. My BP has lowered and I am off my meds, and my triglycerides are much lower, as well. So it's all a matter of taking it slow and steady, one day of the rest of your life at the time.

Hugs.

P. S. Vit D enriched milk is a good source of that vitamin. So be sure you are getting in your dairy.

[Smurlene]

Yeah, I didn't think I would be losing 6 lbs a week! In fact, I would probably add more calories because it would really scare me to lose weight so quickly. When my son was born, I lost 35 lbs in one week, and it really, really freaked me out. I started crying in the doctor's office. My doc tried to make me understand that it was okay, but I really had trouble calming down over it.

Actually, I did put this weight on overnight. PCOS does that. I weighed 180 in May 1997. By May 1998, I weighed 290. One time, I gained 75 lbs in around six months. But, I do want to take it off slowly. I guess I have been so excited about how good this WOE is that I got carried away.

I have been having 2-3 servings of dairy, and I have been eating cheese, too. Maybe fitday doesn't calculate the vitamin D in the milk? I read that eggs are a good source of vitamin D, but fitday says there is zero. I need to check on that.

Thanks for your support Legal. It means a lot.

[Smurlene]

I had some spicy beans and chicken for breakfast this morning and my stomach is still killing me, so I broke down and took a Protonix. Here's the weird thing, though, I never have heart burn in the way we think about. GERD always gave me chest pains from esophogeal spasms. But, since breakfast I have had serious heart burn, but no chest pains. Even the protonix didn't get rid of the burning. Wow, that is the last time I eat a spicey breakfast.

My Menu for the Day:
B: chicken breast, black beans, guacaslasa, nf sour cream, milk
S: nf plain yogurt, blueberries, strawberries
L: steak, big salad
S: 1 oz. Laughing Cow Light, pistachios
D: chicken salad, green beans, cauliflower
S: red pepper and hummus

[Smurlene]

My heartburn finally went away, now I have a gnawing in my tummy. Ouch! At least I don't have chest pains, though. I hate having those GERD-related chest pains. It was scary.

So, here I am towards the end of day 10 and I am still going strong. I have a big, scary day coming up on Wednesday. Mettings from 8 am until 5 pm. I am super planning ahead. I know I can do it because I don't want bad foods.

Example: Tonight I was cleaning up after dinner and dh left a big slice of red pepper on his plate. I ate it not realizing that it had a schmear of Honey French dressing on it! It tasted like chemicals! It was so gross that I literally washed my mouth out! I was never much for commercial salad dressing, but this was really nasty!

[vanessa_nyc]

Hey Smurlene-- I just stopped into your journal to say hello.

I read your story, wow! I am impressed with your drive to move ahead despite the challenges you've faced.

I will be there will you, working and taking one day at a time to improve our eating habits for life!

Hope you've had a great day-- thanks again for writing to me in my journal.
Vanessa

[Smurlene]

Hey Vanessa--Thanks for dropping in. Glad to not I am not strolling along this crowded beach alone. Everyone here is so friendly. It is hard not to be enthusiastic!

[ParadigmShift]

Smurlene I read your journal. Seems like you are on your way. I was day dreaming about smaller sizes...oooooooooo It was my very first day today. It is an odd thing to eat regular food and lose weight AND not get hungry. I do have a headache now but I am going to bed!! Nite Nite

Have a beachy day tomorrow!!

[Smurlene]

I love your screen name. A Kuhn fan? Dh is a philosophy junky.

I would love to be back down to a size 18. What I would love even more is to have a healthy pregnancy and a warm, sweet baby to come home to each day.

We are all in this together. Drop by any time.