Ten Pounds And Counting....

So obliviously, it has been too long since my last post but I do have a pretty good explanation for this. I wanted to make sure I gathered the correct information to share so I could give the best tips for anyone else struggling to lose weight. To be honest, I have not found the "miracle" solution for everyone. It just felt time to share what I have been experiencing and maybe, perhaps, it may help someone else.

So going by the wii fit scale at my home (which I know is off because it is on the carpet when I weigh myself), I had reached 150 lbs. I am proud to say that all though after lots of time and struggle, as of today, I am 140 lbs (according to the wii fit). I think part of the reason that I have not shared my progress already is that I have actually become paranoid that I will jinx my progress and gain the weight back (pathetic, I know). So I have been tweaking my diet/fitness little by little to try and find just the right thing to keep losing weight. Almost like trying to find just the right balance on the scale between how much you should diet and how much to exercise. 

I think exercise is an important base to get you into the right mindset of eating healthier and giving yourself enough muscle (all though it may still be under a lot of fat) that will help you to burn the fat easier. However, what I have discovered is that apparently, if you are a woman like me with PCOS and high testosterone levels, exercising too much may not be the best way to lose the weight. When I was exercising a lot, I felt stronger but did not feel skinnier. I was building up a lot of muscle which caused me to gain weight. It was on my days off from working out that I would lose more weight. So ironically, even though I think I would much rather exercise than diet, I need to diet more than I exercise. Meaning, I discovered that trying to exercise 4-5 times a week for about 25 minutes was a little too much in order for the weight to actually go down. 

Again, however, I do think that because of my time working out and being in better shape than I was, it has made it much easier for the dieting part to actually work. Now on to the diet portion; one thing that I decided to do was try to figure out how I could decrease my testosterone levels so that working out would not just give me more muscle and start turning me into a weird she-hulk. So, all though I have never been one too crazy about diet pills, supplements and/or vitamins, I decided that perhaps because of my medically diagnosed condition, there should be something out there that could help me personally. By doing so, I hoped that by treating what I believed to be part of the cause for my weight gain, I could see better results from my efforts to lose the pounds. After going to the Vitamin Shoppe and asking some questions, me and the clerk discovered that at least according to their company, omega 3 oil, or fish oil was proven to help lower testosterone levels in women with PCOS. This made sense for me since the only fish I really like to eat is tuna and obviously this was something that I was lacking in my diet that was potentially good for me!

So after I started taking the fish oil, I actually lost about 3 lbs in 3 days! Sadly, some of that weight came back though. But none the less, the progress that it had made did give me the confidence and hope that losing the weight is possible for me! Besides, I knew the fish oil would not be able to do all the work itself! And it has made losing the weight seem easier than it did before, which is awesome! 

One other tip I would like to share about slimming your belly that I have "rediscovered" is the trick of keeping your stomach moderately flexed, always. This is an especially nice tool for those like me who now find themselves at a desk job where they do not get to move around much. This exercises your core, firms your stomach, and I feel it also has the added benefit of helping digestion. (That last part may just be my own personal findings). It may not be comfortable at first, but I honestly think this can help anyone who sticks with it through out the day! It is difficult at first to constantly remind yourself, but if you keep at it, hopefully it will become second nature.This has in turn helped me to not crave larger portions which has definitely helped in the past week.

Lastly, the final thing I have been doing this past couple weeks that has shown a lot of progress is really cutting down on soda. This was a struggle at first since I absolutely love Dr. Pepper. It may even be said that at times I have had an addiction to it. You can actually say that I have been working on cutting back on this for a long time, but I think I have finally gotten to where I want with it. Now, I have replaced my daily soda with water and only have my delicious drink on Fridays and Saturdays (and holidays). Basically, I am now treating soda as normal person might treat alcoholic beverages. An added bonus is that my skin is also clearer!

Just so that I am clear, I am not saying everyone should go out and by omega 3 fish oil today! My advice is, whether you have some type of health condition or not, if there is something that you feel is making it difficult for you to lose weight or get out and exercise, find out what you can do to help that! As another example, I am realizing now also that I have been "comfort eating" to hide away my stress or sadness. Now what I am trying to do is not only be happier to begin with, but find other ways to comfort myself besides eating (like napping or drawing). Or, if that is a terribly bad example, if you suffer from insomnia, maybe you could talk to your doctor about healthier ways to fall asleep at night. (Since getting enough sleep is also important for a healthier, slimmer, lifestyle).

Hopefully I will make more time to keep up with my progress and maybe start writing about more things in my life besides food! If I can get my camera to work, I will probably be posting about the murder mystery dinner I hosted and wrote the script for myself! 

Thanks to anyone taking the time to read this and talk to me about it! It is very encouraging hearing from people who are reading and taking something from it.