My PCOS treatment plan, home style

Its been about 2 years since I began this journey. First, it was discovering that I was insulin resistant, had PCOS, then learning I had IBS, and now going gluten free. I have lost 80 pounds. I have improved my triglycerides, my blood pressure, menstrual health, and most of my symptoms are now tolerable. I have used western medicine to discover what the issues were and a combination of diet, exercise, and supplements to manage my health.

I have posted my diet/supplements before. I will do so again because over time I have added and modified my program to accommodate new data.

Whole foods Low Carbohydrate diet- as low as possible. I aim for 30-60 g. / day

Dietary considerations

Focus on:
Healthy fats coconut oil, olive oil, and real butter
Abundant in freshly prepared vegetables and low GI fruits
Protein including chicken, fish, grass fed beef and pork.

Avoid:
Almost all grains,
High GI fruits,
Soy and any other excessively estrogenic food.
Root vegetables (they are excessive in starch)
Nuts
Anything processed including meats, nitrites, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, cotton seed oil and MSG.
Protein powders and shakes.
I follow a gluten free diet.
Dairy is optional, if you have dairy only select organic because the lipid profile is different.
Antibiotics if you can avoid them, do so.
Sauces often hide a lot of starch, sugars, and unnecessary

Avoid anything that is a trigger food. I think of cheesy poufs as a gateway drug.

Avoid toxic people. Toxic thoughts. Toxic clutter. Toxic food. Stress releases a lot of hormones including insulin and cortisol.

Weigh/measure your food most of the time, this is the only true way to get an idea of how much carbohydrate and calories you are getting. I err on the side of more calories rather than less most of the time. A few days per week I will lower my calories, this is called calorie cycling and I do it to help my body stay in weight loss mode. It seems to work for me.

Keep a food journal. Its nice to see the trends of when you felt good versus when you felt bad. You can cross correlate (associate) when you felt good with what you ate most of the time. Also, if you are prone to SAD get a solar spectrum light for your bed room.

Exercise:
Cardio for insulin receptor health
Yoga for thyroid and cortisol control

Supplements:

Saw Palmetto- mildly improves my hirsuitism
Bilberry- improves pancreatic function, and treats interstitial cystitis
Evening Primrose Oil- Helps with my ability to tolerate weight loss without feeling like I was getting snapped with a rubber band.
Fish Oil- Helps with hunger pangs, blood pressure, heart disease, depression and reproductive system function
Horsetail- helps with the hair loss on the top of my head
Gymnema- Only used when needed in the event of over exposure to sugars (usually only when I'm out with friends.)
Probiotics- Helps with IBS symptoms
Triphala- Used for the IBS symptoms

Poison oak

My cat keeps getting into the poison oak. I go to pick her up and get poison oak on me. I get these nasty bumps and it hurts. I take benadryl. Un-fun.

Half way through October

I have been tested for Celiacs and I was not found to have sprue's disease. However, I have read online that women with PCOS often have gluten intolerance, not true Celiac's disease. Apparently, 85% of us are gluten intolerant. So, I have decided to stick to a gluten free diet. Its not terribly hard for me because I already focus my caloric load on healthy fats, protein, and vegetables. I also eat some fruits. As a low-carber, I also try to avoid sweets anyway. This diet helps support my insulin receptors. I do allow myself one day per week to eat anything I want as a strategy to avoid multiple diet infractions during the week. I have purchased some of the low carb foods but I am not focusing on those products because I believe I can make my own eats that do not focus on grains anyway. Those by default are gluten free. I have given up my oat meal. I won't be eating any of the cookies I make for the holidays and for other people's birthdays. I used to test them. But, I won't be doing that anymore. The pain I had with this IBS was so severe that I am not willing to chance that kind of pain again. Some of the gluten free products I have purchased are tings (too tasty induced sugar cravings), brown rice tortillas from Trader Joe's, Pamela's chocolate chocolate chip cookies (perfect on my Cheat day), some baking mixes (again only on cheat day), and wheat free soy sauce. I also bought some puffed millet. I can still have a little dark chocolate but I noticed that I don't care for the semi-sweet chips anymore, they seem too sweet. I wonder if I will ever get to the point of unsweetened chocolate.

The newly re-tooled EDH Diet

Low carb(30-60g/day)

Calorie cycled

Gluten free diet

Diet break down:

Low Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar (90 calories, 8 g. carb)

Post WO: 1/2 c. millet, 1/4 c. coconut milk, 2 tbsp. cream,

Second breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled in 1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 cup sauteed mushrooms/spinach (7.4 g carb)

Lunch: 2 cups greens (4 g. carb)

4 oz. protein (0 g. carb),

2 tbsp. olive oil

Dinner: Chicken broth

2 tbsp. butter

High Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar

Post WO: carb, fats, 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable

Lunch: 2 cups greens, protein, fats

Snack: Chicken broth with some fats

Dinner: 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable, protein, fats

time to get in gear, lets go!

Vacation!!!!! I put on maybe like 5 pounds, I"m too scared to get on the scale. I'm getting uber serious about getting this off. I was ready to hike this morning but my ankle is still very tender from taking that fall last week. But, the good news is that diet is 80 percent so I will be good with my diet and be ok. Its worked before, I expect it to work now.

My planned eats for the next week are (not necessarily in any order)

vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, celery, mushrooms, bok choy, cabbage, and snap peas, watercress, green beans,

protein: eggs, roast chicken, pork shoulder,

carbohydrates: buckwheat gluten free cereal, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries (frozen and fresh), kefir

fats: coconut oil, olive oil, walnuts,

drinks/smoothies: green tea, chamomile tea (at bed time.) coconut milk, and lemon/lime water.

Some of my favorite meals are stir fried vegetables, mushroom omelets, and green beans with almonds.

Planned activities have been modified because the ankle is not ready yet.

Sunday: off

Monday: yoga Gary Bromley

Tuesday: 3 miles with Leslie Sansone with weights

Wednesday: yoga Kathy Smith Yoga Basics

Thursday: 3 miles with Leslie Sansone with a stretchy band

Friday: off

Saturday: Hike 3 miles outside

I will be eating with the intent of losing weight. I am moving with the intent of losing weight. I am staying in the now with the intent of losing weight, improving my skills and creating a new portfolio. Life is especially good when you embrace each activity as fun and entertainment. Doing the best that I can is an end unto itself. I am still working on clearing out magazines, painting the pony for saddle pals, and getting the house squared away. Even though I've put on some weight, I feel like I have the opportunity and ability to get down to a healthy weight. I feel like there is hope and I'm ready to give being slender a try. I don't really know that being slender will make me happy, but I do know that not being fit makes me unhappy. Lets embrace the possibility of something different.