Getting Healthy with PCOS: Part 1

PART 1

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2007.  I had gotten married two years before, and we had decided to try to have a baby.  I went off birth control in advance of trying to conceive.  In the months that followed that decision, I went through a difficult time.  I started putting on a significant amount of weight, and my emotions were all over the place.  I did not have a cycle.  I remember struggling with social interaction.  I didn't want to be around other people.  My husband even asked what happened to the girl he knew.

I went from this girl...

to this girl, in only two years.

I went to the doctor with my concerns and was told that, based on my symptoms, I had PCOS.  I was told that it might not be possible for me to have children.  I was told that no matter what I did, I would end up with diabetes later in life.  I left that appointment with a prescription for Clomid and Metformin to help me conceive.

It took us right at a year to conceive our first child.  You can read more about our infertility story here.  After we had Malachi, I was able to lose about 50 pounds.  I felt pretty good about myself, and after a couple of years, we were able to get pregnant again.  After we had Isaiah, losing the weight was never easy again.

Over the years, I have had more symptoms of PCOS than just weight gain and infertility.  Hair loss, excessive hair growth (also called hirsutism: unwanted, male-pattern hair growth in women), dark patches on the skin, fatigue, anxiety, and sleep problems.  Sound terrible?  It is.  And I believed that these symptoms were something I would live with for the rest of my life.

I'm not going to lie: my diet was terrible.  I lived a very sedentary lifestyle.  I would be happy just sitting around and reading books all day, eating all the good food and living my best life.  Only it wasn't my best life.  In May 2019, I decided to get my life back and started working out and eating right.

I decided to make this more about getting healthy than losing weight.  If I exercise and eat right, the weight loss will eventually follow.  But more than anything, I want to be able to look in the mirror and like the woman I see.  I have not been able to do that in a while.

So, I'm inviting you to join me on this journey.  It's going to be raw and real--and hopefully inspirational.  It's my journey back to health with PCOS.