August 2016 - Blogging by Beth

What I’ve Learned About PCOS

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PCOS is a jerk. On top of that, it is mysterious and sneaky. I’ve known that I have PCOS for the last 8 years and I have spent A LOT of time researching it. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about this rude disorder from my own experience with it:

It’s Different in Everyone- Remember how you’d learn a grammar rule in English class and just when you had it down, your teacher said, “but here are the exceptions to this rule?” Yeah, that’s kind of what PCOS is like. Since it is a hormonal disorder and everyone’s hormonal makeup is unique, there is no one rule that defines
PCOS and how it affects people. As it stands, there are not many people even talking about PCOS. Unfortunately, a lot of the ones who talk about it do tend to think of it as a blanket disorder that can be lumped into one box. It is not. Some girls have facial hair…I do not. Some girls have thinning hair…I do not. Some girls get regular periods..I do not. Pay attention to your unique symptoms so you can find the right way to treat them.
Birth Control Does Not Cure PCOS-If you have PCOS and have been to a doctor, they probably tried to put you on birth control. While it might force a period and cover up some other symptoms like bad acne, it does not actually cure PCOS. As soon as you stop taking it, your symptoms will probably come back. Some people feel more comfortable taking the pill and that’s fine. In my PCOS journey, though, I found that birth control caused more trouble than it was worth.
It Doesn’t Define You-I have spent so much time hiding my PCOS. It made me feel ashamed and embarrassed. It made me feel like I was less than. I wouldn’t even bring it up because I didn’t want people to judge me about it. But guess what? It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything to get PCOS. But it is definitely up to me to decide how I handle it. And I’ve decided that I’m tired of hiding it.
Eating Right and Exercising Does Help…Even If The Results are Slow-I have spent years killing myself with hardcore workouts. In fact, a nutritionist once told me that I work out at an athlete level. Unfortunately, the way I look does not reflect that. Believe me, I understand how frustrating it is to try to lose weight when you have PCOS. The second I stop exercising I start to gain weight. The PCOS weight loss struggle is full of disappointment. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it to keep doing your best. Eating right and exercising does help.
It Is So Important to Do Your Own Research-In my experience, a lot of doctors try to treat the effects of PCOS and not really the causes. Even if these treatments work temporarily, they very rarely have long-term success. If you do not feel like Metformin is the right course of action for you and your PCOS, do some research to find the right alternative therapy for your needs. I am definitely not saying you should avoid the doctor or even that you should disregard their medical advice. I’m just saying that it is important for you to spend some time researching so you understand what is happening with your body.

Flaxseed Meal Pancakes

Guys! Did you know that flaxseed is actually really good for you? As in it has a lot of fiber, very little carbs, no gluten, lots of antioxidants, and it helps keep your digestive system functioning properly?

This morning I was in the mood for pancakes so I decided to whip up some using flaxseed meal to make them slightly healthier than the regular version. I only used flaxseed meal, eggs, a little bit of Panko to give it some consistency, and a drop of almond milk for a little bit of flavor. Keep reading to find out how to make this easy, healthy, and tasty recipe in your own kitchen.

Note: I only made them for myself so you can increase the recipe if you want to share them!

Ingredients

1/2 cup of flaxseed meal flour (you can find it at your local health food store)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of Panko

1 tablespoon of almond milk (you can substitute regular milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or just skip this step entirely)

Directions

Put a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan–make sure to leave it on a low flame.

While the oil heats up, mix the the flaxseed meal with the eggs until it is totally coated. Pour the Panko in a little at a time and keep stirring. You want the batter to be a bit thick so it’ll form pancakes on the pan. Mix in your almond milk (if you want it).

Once the pan is heated, use a spoon to put the batter over the heat. You can make one big pancake or separate it into a few little ones. Let it cook for about 2 minutes and use a spatula to press down on the batter. Flip it over to the other side and let it cook the same way. You might need to flip the pancakes a few times to ensure both sides are cooked equally.

Once they look good (or as good as they are going to look), turn off the heat and put them onto a plate. You can go the traditional route and use syrup and butter or make them a little healthier with some honey or agave syrup. If you prefer saltier foods, you can just sprinkle them with some sea salt and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Flaxseed meal pancakes are NOT pretty. But they’re good for you, they’re tasty, and they’re stupidly-easy to make. Enjoy 🙂

Mo’ Dairy, Mo’ Problems

I turned 30 in August of 2014. In September of that year, I started to get hives almost every day. I’m no stranger to hives—I have had seriously bad allergic reactions to certain antibiotics and hot tubs with too much chlorine, but these were isolated incidents and they were few and far between. I never considered myself a person who really suffered from allergies.

But back to these hives. I was doing squats at the gym one September day when I noticed a bunch of red bumps along my chest. At first I thought they might be some kind of heat rash (September in Arizona is still basically surface-of-the-sun-hot). Or maybe that my sweat was causing me to break out…but then the itching started.

No big deal, my lips just swelled to twice their size after using lipstick with dairy in it!

The hives returned almost daily and seemed to get itchier every time they reappeared. They were all over my forearms, my ankles, my neck, and my chest. Some of the worst ones lined the sides of my upper legs. I remember lying in bed trying not to scratch while the uncomfortable itching kept me up at night. I took allergy pills and they helped a little bit, but the hives always returned.

Each day I paid attention to what I was eating and drinking to try to figure out what was causing the hives. As soon as I developed a theory, I realized why it wouldn’t work.

One day my friend and I went out for dinner. We got spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer. After dinner, we got some ice cream. Back at my house, we started to watch a movie when my hands started to swell up to twice their size.

“Are you okay?” my friend asked as she noticed me trying to scratch some hives with my swollen hands.

“I’ve been getting hives every day. I don’t know what’s causing it,” I said with a shrug.

“Maybe it’s dairy,” she said and my eyes got wide.

“Oh my God. I think you’re totally right!” I said. I could almost hear an angelic choir in my mind as I realized that dairy was my common denominator.

That night after my daily does of Benadryl, I started researching dairy allergies. An allergy is different than an intolerance. Most people who can’t have dairy suffer from lactose intolerance, which means they can’t properly break down milk products. The dairy allergy is caused by an allergic reaction to casein, which is the protein found in dairy products. cow-pasture-animal-almabtrieb

In the morning I looked at the ingredients of the foods I most commonly ate throughout the week. Almost everything had dairy or casein in it. Even the whole wheat bread I ate with peanut butter after the gym. A quick glance at my Benadryl bottle showed me that the pills I was taking to stop the hives had dairy in the coating, which meant they were making the problem worse!

I was so relieved to finally have a culprit—I wasn’t crazy. But then I realized what that meant. Even with my limited research, I could still see that dairy. Was. In. everything. Like, everything.

My hives were so bad for a while that I had to get all new cosmetics and toiletries because even they had dairy as a moisturizer. Within a matter of weeks, I went from a person who never had a problem with allergies to a person who was allergic to almost everything.

It’s been two years since I realized I’m allergic to dairy and done what I can to avoid it. I’m not perfect, though. There have been a few times where I gave into a bagel with schmear or ate a italian-pizza-restaurant-dinner piece of pizza or two. Since I do not have dairy on a regular basis, my reactions are not as bad as they once were. I do still get hives and swelling, though.

I’m going to feature a lot of dairy-free recipes and tips on this blog to help you guys avoid it. Whether your body also revolts against you for enjoying the occasional latte or piece of cheesecake or you just want to stop eating so much cheese, there will be some unique ways to circumvent this usually hard-to-avoid ingredient.

Finding the “Why”

The other day a friend asked me how I stay motivated to work out. Even though I have been exercising pretty regularly since I was 14 (I’m now 32), I had to stop to really think about the answer. The truth was, in all the years of popping in workout DVDs, doing dead lifts at the gym, or sweating my way around a track, I had never once asked myself that question. But knowing why you work out is almost as important as actually doing it.

At first I said, “I just make it a part of my routine and it’s easy to keep doing it.”

“No,” my friend said with a shake of her head. “That’s not what keeps you motivated. I’ve started and stopped working out so many times over the years, but you have always been really consistent with it. What’s your secret?”

I looked around the dimly-lit restaurant and wondered what the people around us would think if they could overhear this conversation. My friend has four children, but she is slimmer now than she was before she started having kids. I am much more on the curvy side and I found myself scrunching up a bit as if to hide my body as I thought about my real answer.

“Well, I guess part of it is that working out gives me the chance to turn my brain off for a while. I overthink everything. Literally everything. And I can kind of escape that when I work out,” I started.

My friend nodded and took a sip of her drink.

“But I don’t think that’s it,” I added. She turned her blue eyes back to me, ready to hear the next part of my answer. “I think that a big part of it is that I don’t want people to look at me and automatically think that I don’t ever work out. Inside I feel athletic and strong. I know I don’t necessarily look that way, though, so working out is my way to prove it to the world?” It comes out like a question because it’s not really something I’ve ever admitted out loud.

I, like many women in my age bracket, suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This complicated name basically means that my hormones are out of whack and that my body does not process insulin the right way. Because of this, my periods have never been regular, I sometimes suffer from cystic acne, and, the hardest side effect for me, it is incredibly hard to lose weight and very easy to gain it.

Compared to some women who have PCOS, I know I have a very mild case. I do not have excessive facial hair and the hair on the top of my head is far from thinning. I do not have diabetes and I do not weigh anything close to 300 pounds. But I also know that my PCOS isn’t as severe as it could be because I spend so much time exercising.

One of the only times I noticed a significant decrease in my weight was when I went to school in Boston. At the time, I lived a mile away from the train, which meant I automatically walked two miles if I went anywhere during the day. Although I didn’t have a step counter back then, I’d estimate that I usually walked closer to seven or eight miles by the time I returned home for the day. A few times a week, I also ran a mile and a half in addition to the miles I walked. To top it all off, I did two Jillian Michaels’ workouts in one day. Although no Jillian workout is easy, my daily routine consisted of two of the most advanced DVDs.

That is an unsustainable amount of exercise to have to do just to see some results. To be fair, I was not really modifying my diet at all, but most people start to see weight-loss results if they just walk more than they normally do. Even with that level of physical activity, I wouldn’t have considered myself “thin.”

Throughout the past few years, I have studied a lot about nutrition. I’m still trying to find the right balance between what I eat and how much I work out. I have made a big effort to cut out certain foods that are bad for PCOS. Like dairy, which I just discovered

I’m allergic to anyway.

The more I thought about why I work out, the more I realized that the answer has many layers. In addition to everything I have already mentioned, working out also makes me feel strong. This strength is not all physical, however. In fact, much of it is mental. When I can successfully complete a workout with crazy moves like burpees, scissor jumps, military-style pushups, and jump lunges, it makes me feel like I can complete other tasks in my daily life. I notice if I skip a few workouts, my confidence starts to slip in other areas.

So, why do I work out? I do it because it’s a part of me and it makes the other parts of me better. I do it because I don’t want PCOS to dictate my life. I do it because, as crazy as it sounds, I find it fun. But mostly, I do it because I believe that I deserve more.

Getting in some steps with my dog Madigan

Hello, World!

I’ve been a serial exerciser since I was 14. That means that I’ve had 18 years (oy vey) of experience with different kinds of workouts, different kinds of diets, and everything in between. I also suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which has made this whole process very difficult. I hope to use this blog as a forum that helps other people who are facing the same struggles find some way to overcome them and become the strongest versions of themselves.