4 lbs

Apparently, changing my diet and exercising in addition to the Metformin has helped because I have already lost 4 lbs. Yay, me!! I haven't been following the low GI diet completely because I have been trying to eat up what food I do have in the house. In this economy and with finances the way they are, I just can't throw away food because I am starting a new diet. So, I have been doing the diet as best I can with the food I have and I still have lost weight. Yippee!!!

Today I went to the grocery store armed with my list of approved food and ingredients for various recipes. Since the diet relies so heavily on fruits, veggies and whole grain foods, it is a big change in how we have been eating. I was very worried about how much my grocery bill was going to be. I figured it was going to be higher than normal. It seems like all the food that is good for you is also more expensive. I was pleasantly surprised to find my bill was actually LOWER than normal. We must have been buying some expensive junk before. Granted, I didn't buy much meat this trip because I have plenty, but, still, it was about $20 lower than normal. Now we will just have to see if I bought enough to get through the week.

Poor T is not as excited as I am about changing the way we eat. The only junk food I bought this week was Oreos mainly because of B (that girl loves her Double Stuffed), but also because I don't want to completely deprive us of snackedly goodness. Total deprivation would probably back fire, quickly. T was a bit less than enthusiastic about what I bought and what will be available for him to eat. I strongly suspect he will be making a side trip to the store before the week is out. That or sneaking at work. That's OK with me. Right now it is more important for me to stick to the diet than him. I can work on him in the ensuing weeks :). B, on the other hand, so far doesn't seem phased by it. She was very happy with her salad today and really enjoyed trying a mango for the first time. I made sure to include some salami, which she really likes, so it wasn't completely different. Being so young, she will probably have less trouble adapting than T and I. I am really hopeful that we can stick with this. B will grow up eating healthy so it will be second nature to her to eat healthy when she is a teen and adult. If we get nothing else out of this than that, I will feel it has been worth it and productive.

The other good thing is that I have gotten 2 co workers looking into starting the low GI diet. One is interested for herself and her husband, and the other interested for her father who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Now I have at least one buddy for support as we work towards losing weight and getting healthier. T is doing this for me but I don't know that I would say he is all that interested or someone I will turn to when things get tough for moral support. He will be there in a pinch but day to day complaining, I think I would do better with a fellow woman and dieter.

I have read that losing just 5% of my weight can improve conception by 70% in a woman with PCOS. 70 % - WOW. I am already half way there. I know I have other issues involved with our infertility but at the very least, maybe I will start having regular periods again and possibly even start ovulating on my own again. If I can get my progesterone and estrogen back under control, I might even start sleeping better again because too low progesterone and too high estrogen can both cause insomnia. I have to admit, I have been sleeping better the last few nights since I started taking the Provera. Hormones are really funny things. I never realized what havoc they can cause when they are even just slightly out of whack.

Blue Monday

I hate Mondays. Today sucked. I was doing OK until I got a call from my mom and it went downhill from there. Now don't get me wrong, I love my mom dearly but sometimes we don't communicate well. She called at a bad time and I went ahead and tried to talk to her even though I knew it was a bad time, but I hadn't talked with her for awhile so...Any way, she was actually trying to tell me that she approved of my blog and all but, following an argument this past weekend with T about our infertility issues, I was very sensitive. I won't got into details, but, sometimes you just need support and not someone to try and "fix" things or give you platitudes. Sometimes I just need someone to vent to, cry on their shoulder, just listen and hear me, not tell me what I need to do or that it will all work out or to stop worrying so much.
T is much more laid back than I am (thank God otherwise our household would be completely manic) and he seems to be taking this in stride. Sometimes he is so easy going that I wonder if he is really affected or all that worried. I take the proactive, what are all the possibilities angle and he takes the wait and see, don't borrow trouble angle. They don't always mesh as we found out this past weekend. And this waiting is KILLING me. I want to get the Challenge test done so we know where we go from here but I still haven't gotten my period. I will have to call the RE tomorrow which probably means more blood work and Provera. That means it won't be until sometime next month before we can schedule the test. UUURRGGG!!
On the good side of things, I have decided to go on the low GI diet (glycemic index). I have heard good things about this diet and am hopeful it will help with the insulin resistance AND weight loss. Poor T is not so excited but he is a trooper. He doesn't really get much of a choice since I do most of the grocery shopping :). I have been keeping up with getting more exercise - I have been doing yoga/pilates, we went to the zoo on Saturday and walked around for hours, and we went bowling yesterday. Not high impact exercise but still exercise and I will build on it.
I am just kind of blue today. Its the waiting and not knowing. Also, sometimes I feel like I am the only one who is taking this situation that seriously. I am trying to be proactive and do things to try and help with the PCOS like the GI diet, exercise, cutting my sugar intake plus researching infertility, IVF, IUI and PCOS. I found a nice board - Soulcysters.com - on PCOS with the help of a friend. It has a lot of good info. I just want a plan of action and hate being in this holding pattern. It is driving me absolutely crazy. I know there is nothing I can do right now but I really dislike being told that and being told to just be patient. So I am having a blue Monday and a crappy outlook right now. It will pass, I hope :). I think T hopes it will pass, too. Hopefully having a crappy start to the week won't color the rest of the week. Mondays suck.