![\"IMG_0789\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blog.stellamortis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_0789.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>One of my most favorite snack combos, and one I have to severely moderate.<\/p><\/div>\n
During all this, I did learn some stuff. \u00a0Potato chips have an almost immediate impact. Soda, too, though to a slightly lesser extent. \u00a0Other high carb foods like pasta, breads, candy, cookies, cake, and ice cream have varying effects, always dependent on the amount I consume, the other foods I’ve had that day, and how active I’ve been.<\/p>\n
Of everything I’ve tried, low carb had more results. \u00a0Meaning, I lost maybe five pounds. \u00a0But I wasn’t willing to sustain it–I refused to cut out Dr Pepper and ice cream completely. \u00a0I know my food weaknesses, and I moderate.<\/p>\n
When I got my job, and finally had decent enough health insurance, I started going to my husband’s general practitioner. \u00a0She did blood tests for pretty much everything. \u00a0Checked my blood sugar (within normal levels), triglycerides (high, but they always have been since Mom first tested them), thyroid (normal), and anything else she could think of. \u00a0She found nothing to explain my issues with weight.<\/p>\n
So I started exercising more, and the food was a bit more regulated, leaning toward low carb. \u00a0I bought a new treadmill to replace the old one and bought a Wii and exercise games. I used both regularly for about a year, and my back stopped aching and cramping, muscles started getting definition, and my stamina and endurance got better.<\/p>\n
Then I got sick and diagnosed with bronchitis. \u00a0The GP prescribed prednisone. \u00a0I stopped exercising because just breathing would make me cough, and I didn’t want to exacerbate anything. \u00a0I lost a few pounds–sick, and steroid-type meds.<\/p>\n
The weight came back, plus some, once I got better, and since then, I haven’t been able to get back into the same physical health. \u00a0I still have some of the muscle; I still have the endurance and stamina, but I haven’t managed to get my core muscles back to where I don’t have to stop doing whatever to stretch my back.<\/p>\n
When I turned 30, I decided to stop taking birth control. Weight was part of the decision–my GP agreed that stopping should help me lose weight–and the other part was stroke risk, since there seemed to be a possible familial risk there.<\/p>\n
About three years ago, I started seeing an OB\/GYN–I’d been previously been going to Planned Parenthood because of lack of money\/health insurance–and the doctor believed I might have polycystic ovarian syndrome–PCOS<\/a>. \u00a0Three main symptoms are irregular menstruation, excess androgen (male hormones) which can show as excess hair growth, and polycystic ovaries.<\/p>\n My OB ordered bloodwork–she tested my testosterone and insulin levels, and because of the history of stroke, tested for the possibility of genetic risk. \u00a0The test for stroke came back negative, so it seems like I don’t have any more risk than would be expected.The testosterone and insulin levels came back high. \u00a0My actual diagnosis is insulin resistant PCOS.<\/p>\n This means it’s difficult for me to lose weight.<\/p>\n One of the treatments is metformin, which is mostly used to treat type 2 diabetes. \u00a0The way my GP explained it to me is that my body overproduces insulin to keep my blood sugar low, but it doesn’t use that insulin efficiently. \u00a0The metformin is supposed to correct that.<\/p>\n I’ve been taking metformin for nearly three years, and while it’s been a slow process, I have seen some improvement. \u00a0The highest weight I’ve reached, when I first visited the OB, was 250–my personal highest, weight in the morning before any food, was slightly lower at 248. \u00a0This morning, my weight was just about 238.<\/p>\n Not a big difference, but a difference. \u00a0Especially when my weight tends to jump up and down a couple pounds before it finally drops, and then repeats the same thing. \u00a0And when I’ve been exercising inconsistently for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n It’s progress, and going in the right direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometime, maybe around 3rd grade, I was with my mom at the mall, and she ran into someone she new–a cousin, a coworker, a friend, I don’t remember that much–and I recall overhearing that person saying that I was a … Continue reading