PCO - Letting go off the fat - Join me for the next six months

[womanlytales]

Hi,
I am 34 yrs old, with PCO and have two stones to lose by 2011. I have been overweight for the better part of my life - with school folks calling me baby elephant amongst other things. I am terrified about losing weight even though I've read most of the books, am physically active when necessary and have a sense of all the tools that I need - and still I am terrified in that I can't seem to get any plan to work. So will you join me here and help support one another letting go of the fat?

Afternoon womanlytales I would be delighted to join you in losing weight. I have 2 stone (plus) to lose and need help and motivation to do so. Like you I have a sense of all the tools needed to do so but planning and maintaining any lifestyle change appears to be my big problem.
So count me in

I'm sort of in a different boat now, having already lost 2.5 stone via WeightWatchers and exercise then conceiving my gorgeous DD. I'm now trying to shift the baby weight and though it's slow-going, I'm still more than a stone lighter than I was before I initially lost weight.

Just wanted you to know that it is possible to lose weight with PCOS even if you're a greedy bastard food lover like me. It's just a slow process so you've done right by giving yourself plenty of time. I also had to give myself a day 'off' once a week or so, so that I didn't feel too deprived.

TartyMcFarty Thanks for the encouragement - I can go through years of swinging five kilos up and down and end the year with a net gain / loss of 0. So I know my problem is in sustaining a weight loss program.
Desiretochange Welcome to our thread.. I am currently working on a low GI/GL diet. The problem is not eating the good foods.. I think the problem is staying away from the bad - chocolate in my case. I award myself a star for each day that I stick to a sensible diet ..and so far am averaging 1 star per week -- I know terrible!!!

How does the star system work for you? Do you treat yourself if you get so many stars?

Hi, I have PCOS and also gave up smoking, I lost around a stone but want/need to get rid of another 10lbs.

I'm trying to do 45 mins activity every day as well as keeping an eye on my diet. I've started a thread in sport and exercise which is quite funny because it's only me on it....
I've swapped toast for cereal/fruit and sandwich with crisps for salad which seems to be helping with the dreaded bloat as well as weight loss.

I'll happily join you all for the six months.

Yippie, welcome Oiteach - we can begin a list though I am not sure what we'll log.
Desiretochange I give myself a star for each day that I stay off the bad stuff [whites- rice,bread,pastry,cake,biscuits,potatoes + chocolates] PLUS do 10,000 steps in my walk.
Since I only manage one star per week, I haven't got to figuring out how to reward myself...because I don't stick to the plan to begin with.
Yesterday I was fine till I got home..when I just went nuts - cdn't stop eating and also had a bar of chocolate... Why is it that I feel so hungry despite eating... I can finish a meal and feel hungry to eat more...which is so NOT how others are.. when they are finished, they are finished...but with me, I just get more hungry...

Can I join too please?

I am PCO too, and am trying to shift 5 stone at least, and 8 stone to be a total rock star! LOL! Feels like a bloody mountain to climb.

Have been on and off most diets in the known universe and feel like crap at the moment because the PCO is giving me hell. I really need to change my lifestyle if this is going to work this time, and I need some support from outside of my house!!

I love being active; swimming, walking, using the Wii Fit Plus and Sports Active and all that kind of thing. At the moment though, feel so low and ill that haven't done much for ages. However, if I don't start will just end up feeling worse and worse.

So, eating is whole food and organic, from fresh and homemade where possible. I am also going to try and stop eating so many carbs, but not cut them out altogether as that way lies horrors for me!!

I feel if we report our progress every week, we might better stick to our weight loss / get healthy plans... so here's a suggestion for a weekly list:
We can list ourselves and the amount of weight we'd like to lose [weight or inches] and then each week we add the new target -- hopefully over time our target will shift to a smaller number..and I hope we have graduates who've met their initial targets and looking to maintain their health...

So for example: This week my stats would be

Womanlytales #1[2st]

Next week it will be [I hope]
Womanlytales #2[2st][1st10]

Here's a start for the list -- Please add your names and update it to get us going. I've read in places that a weekly weight reading is recommended - - so perhaps we can weigh ourselves every Thursday or around that date and update the list. Do we need to track anything else? Feel free to tweak the list as you see fit.

--------
Thursday, July 08 -- PCO six month challenge list:

WomanlyTales #1[2st]
Desiretochange #1[2st]
Oiteach #1[10lb]

---------

Here's to a successful six month challenge and here's to many, many, many stars:
I am going to buy some stars from a stationery shop and post them on the window that looks out to the garden - to remind myself of each day that I spend towards a healthier weight & lifestyle.

I just realized that keeping a diary is nice to get stuff out of my head and onto paper - but it also has a privacy element that encourages shame...and makes me dwell on the star-less days instead of focusing on the star days and using them to motivate myself.

Welcome Claire - Have added you to the list.

--------
Thursday, July 08 -- PCO six month challenge list:

WomanlyTales #1[2st]
Desiretochange #1[2st]
Oiteach #1[10lb]
ClareMaggieE #1 [5st]

Graduates:
TartyMcFarty [2.5st]

---------

How much of water do you all have? This week I am going to try having 1.5 liters of water per day [that includes non-caffeine tea] -- Hoping this will help me keep away from eating too much.
Clare I think it's great that you love being active. I try to walk 10,000 steps six days a week though I got to say, some days I can really be LAZY!

Thanks. Sometimes it is a struggle to do anything, but I need to keep my eyes on the prize, and remember that when I do it I love it.

I try and have 2 litres of water a day. And I allow myself a couple of cups of caffiene - either proper tea or proper coffee. If I am going to be naughty, I will have decent stuff! It used to be much worse than that (like 10 cups of caffiene a day!! )

Morning all. At moment am trying to take in at least 1.5ltrs of water daily which I seem to be managing to do!
Current weight 12st 6lb so fingers crossed this time next week the figures will be lower

Afternoon all (just!)
The list is great, thanks for doing that. I'm looking forward to next weeks weigh in in a perverse sort of way now.

I tend to have one or two litres but that depends on how much exercise I have done that day as well.
I've never really been much of a caffeine fiend, I'll have one cup of coffee a day at the most.

I do enjoy a glass of wine just before my dinner but I've started adding water now, so I will have about half of a small glass of wine topped up with water which seems to be working well for me.
Currently eting lunch which is/was; a smoked salmon salad (rocket, spinach, pasta and dill with creme fraiche)
Portion of cherries.
And a bag of beef hula hoops.

My lunch was a rather yummy and crunchy tuna and low fat mayo salad. Not a lettuce leaf in sight, but full of celery, cucumber, tomatoes and peppers with a scattering of lush black olives. Very yummy. Unfortunately, now feel like chocolate, so resisting the temptation at the moment.

I hope you can resist Clare - I didn't. Was distracted / bored - oh I don't know - and so had some chocolate. I'd laugh if this wasn't really so predictable -- I set myself a target and then promptly slide off track!
Am glad to see you on track - - I promise to try harder for the rest of the week.

Resist Clare that sounds like a super healthy lunch
Womanly put it down as your treat for the day/week. Still a lot of hours left today to be good

You know the secret to dieting? (And one I have yet to learn for myself?!) It is getting the head stuff sorted.

I sabotage every diet I have ever been on, either consciously or unconsciously. It drives me insane. I know that I do it... I just can't figure out a way of NOT doing it. If that makes any sense at all.

Resisted chocolate. Go me!!

I am going home now after a hellish day at work, so now I need to resist the temptation of diving headlong into a bag of crisps or something equally crappy.

See you in the morning ladies!

Good for you Claire - - I also know what it means to sabotage plans but ...there's also hope that over time we'll get worser at it. ;)

Ha! Another one who had a hellish day at work and wants to raid the local shop for crisps and crap!

I'm having mushroom risotto instead of chocolate and crisps. Not much better but at least it's a proper meal.

Self sabotage is definitely a factor for me which is why I'm really trying to focus more on lifestyle than a diet if you see what I mean.
So crap day today but tomorrow I'll have a better day and not obsess about what I ate today that I shouldn't have.

Have a lovely evening all, see you tomorrow.

I did not succumb to crappy food. When I got home, hubby had already started cooking a big old "grill up" with bacon and sausages and beans and scrambled eggs. It tasted absolutely lovely, and because we didn't have a mountain of toast with it, I think we did okay.

I didn't do any exercise last night because I was exhausted and I went to bed at 8.45. Oooh, rock and roll!! However, did sleep all the way through to when the alarm went off at 5.45 this morning, so clearly I needed the sleep!! I do feel better this morning.

So far, I have had a glass of water with fibre in it, some organic granola and low fat organic bio yogurt. I have mountain of fruit on my desk, so if I get peckish during the day I can nibble on that, and I am about to drink a cup of decaf Earl Grey. I feel like I have some energy today, so I am hoping I can manage to get the housework done, the shopping done and then sign on at a local gym. That is quite enough energetic work for one day.

Right on with the boring "earn a bloody living" kind of work!! Have a good day everyone.

Morning all
Desiretochange - Thank you for your support yesterday - I managed to limit the damage to that first incident alone and ended the day on a high - Did my 10k steps and also had a healthy pita pocket for dinner with salad! YES!!
Today is another new day - Started with porridge and then went through a packet of wholegrain snacks (290 kcal) - before I stopped. Need to reel back and save this day yet again.

Thank you for sharing what you're doing - it helps me not feel as alone and together I think I am fitter to recognize that food is not comfort - nor is it good company.

Am totally convinced I have a "self-destruct" button but am trying really hard not to push the button these days so totally agree with making this a lifestyle change and not use the dreaded word "diet"

There was poster i saw years ago, with Garfield on it, which said something like "Diet is Die, with a T". That is kind of the way I have looked at it. Diets don't work. Just ask me, I have done thousands of them and none of them have made me a skinny minny. No indeedy, they have all, in their way contributed to me being a big old heffalump!

Sometimes it helps to examine in a bit more detail WHY you press the self destruct button. With me, it is when I am lonely, bored, stressed, or think I should have done better than I have. I do not use food as comfort most of the time; I use it as a reward, or as a punishment for not being the totem of perfection I expect myself to be. Knowing this does not make it any easier to stop myself from doing something stupid, but it does help to have an idea of why I do it. So even if I end up eating crap I can look back and work out what happened and then hopefully avoid the situation in the future.

Just had Ham, peppers and mangetout with some cherry tomatoes for lunch. Think AF might have arrived after 3 months of nothing, so I am going to feel dreadful later tonight. Still, at least I have something to show for the god awful PMT/PCOS symptoms I have been having. However, do still feel hungry and nectarines are not capturing my imagination like a sandwich or chocolate is. I am going to try the nectarines and see what happens!

Go Nectarines!
I am in contrast to you Claire - can't seem to stop eating since morning. Haven't had any chocolate though - only because there isn't any space in me for anything else. Now am trying to get some water in..though I feel like a balloon right about now - LOL.
Stay healthy and have a good weekend.

Called into shop on way back to work to get water, sorely tempted to treat myself to a bag of crisps but resisted