Goodbye PCOS!

I am so happy to be writing this – I never thought this day would come.

As some of you might remember, last summer, I noticed my body going through, what I can only describe as “freaky sh*t”. I gained 12 kgs (26 lbs) almost overnight, my skin starting breaking out like mad, and my period was no where to be found, and my mood swings… good grief, I was a monster. My poor mother. Extremely worried/scared/disgusted, I went to a doctor who diagnosed me with “a very sudden hormonal change” which resulted in insulin resistance and what he suspected was PCOS.

I immediately went on meds for awhile to balance out the hormones, which worked pretty quick. However, I still had the insulin resistance issue to deal with, which was really tough. Basically, my doc said I had to try to lose weight naturally as a “test” – it would be hard because my body was working against it, but I had to try. Because if I couldn’t lose the weight naturally, then it meant my insulin resistance was very bad, and I’d need serious drugs ’cause things could get worse – anyway, check out the original post for the full details. Thankfully, I did manage to lose the weight – I was determined not to take the drugs, and I hated the weight and wanted it gone! So for this post I’d just like to talk about how I lost it, because I’ve had a few questions about it.

Overall, I have to say that all this was quite an eye opener. Gaining 12 kgs in a matter of months is a shock to anyone, but for me, the idea of weight/exercising/dieting was alien to me. I’ve always been tall and skinny – weight was never an issue and I was one of those annoying people who could eat whatever they wanted. I have to say, losing weight isn’t hard – we all know the formula. It is, however, absolutely miserable. The dieting part was fine for me, because in all honestly my interest in food is pretty low; I don’t really think about it much. I do, however, like my chocolate and other sweet treats in the evening so that was the only thing that was “hard” to resist, especially in the first week – I felt like a drug addict having withdrawals! Anyways, diet wise, I cut out all snacks, with the exception of some once in awhile as a treat (however, I did have several slip-ups). I also cut out all refined carbs and of course, I loaded up on fruits and veggies.

So yeah – my diet was fairly straight-forward, but as a sugar/junk food addict, cutting all that out made a huge difference.

As for exercise… now that was the miserable part. The last time I really exercised was in gym class when I was maybe 12 years old, so I took it extremely slow. I started with hourly walks every evening. I’d time myself, and make sure I walked that full hour, non-stop. I absolutely hated it but forced myself. Eventually, I started enjoying my walks so it got better. And because my body was not used to the “healthy” diet, drastic cut in sugar and the exercise, the first few kilos dropped off almost immediately. The next few months, my weight loss was extremely slow but steady, but after awhile I hit a plateau. So I decided to change up the exercise. I tried all sorts of things (gym, swim, etc) but felt it was too boring, so I went back to walking. But this time, I went on a treadmill and power-walked like a mad woman. This helped incredibly and the weight started to drop off again.

As of today, I have lost 10kgs and all the symptons of my insulin resistance/hormonal imbalance hell seem to be gone. I have that extra 2kg still on me but at this point who cares – I’m just happy I look and feel like my old self again!

So to those who’ve been asking for an update and how I lost the weight, that’s pretty much it! As miserable and depressing as it was, I am thankful I went through this as it’s given me a huge wake up call on how unhealthy I was. If you’re looking to get fit and healthy, just remember to not do it drastically (no fad diets, extreme exercising, etc) and take it slow. This keeps the weight off for good, and you know the saying: slow and steady wins the race! It took me a full 7 months, but I’m here and it was so worth it… if my lazy ass can do it, TRUST ME, anyone can. One quote that kept me going was, ”difficult is not impossible”, and it’s 100% true!