living life abundantly in spite of PCOS
I promised this was coming! Earlier this month, I shared how I try to meal plan for an entire pay period as frequently as possible. It commits us to the food we have at home, makes us eat out less, and saves us money. We’re less likely to waste ingredients because we roll them over into subsequent recipes as frequently as possible. Today, I’m going to share my current meal plan that will last from January 16-30 (15 days!). It is also PCOS-friendly and Keto approved.
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With the new year, I decided to pick back up with a stricter Keto diet for January and February to sort of
I get paid twice a month at my job, so when possible, I like to meal plan and grocery shop for enough food to cover that entire paycheck, with some grace for eating out once or twice. I
I thought it would be helpful to share my meal plan for January 6-15. This includes ten days of PCOS-friendly Keto eating, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I’m not going to list which days we’re eating which meals, because it can change depending on what we’re all craving at the time. Also, January 1-5 were included in my combined Christmas/NYE meal plan so that is why they weren’t included here. We’ll start with a 10-day plan, and next time I’ll share a complete paycheck meal plan!
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September is PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) Awareness Month. I heard someone say recently that they feel like there is an “awareness” day, week, or month for everything these days and it feels like we’re in this vortex of over-saturation of “awareness”. This made me cringe.
I mean, I get it. But here’s the thing: there is still a major deficit of awareness of so many things. If we keep quiet and don’t speak up, we can’t expect people to understand what we’re going through. It leaves us feeling isolated, alone, and left behind while other ailments receive attention from the medical community.
I’m so excited to announce that I have partnered up with Logan over at With Great Expectation to do a fantastic giveaway for PCOS Awareness Month. The giveaway is hosted on Instagram this year, and today I wanted to share what we’re giving away, why, and how to enter to win:
Logan and I are EACH giving away a set of 3 essential oils that we use for PCOS symptoms, valued at $129 retail per person. Yes, there will be TWO winners! The oils we’re giving away are Progessence Plus, Endoflex, and SclarEssence. I’ve shared some details on how I use these oils on my Instagram stories (you can view it on my highlights), but Logan and I are each going LIVE on Instagram to share more information about why we chose these oils and what they have done for us, and we’ll be sure to save those live videos on our highlights so you can go back and watch them if you miss it.
I’ve officially eaten Keto for a quarter of 2018 and here’s where I’m at:
Keto: when you’re only 0.8 lb from your weight loss goal and keep thinking: “how much do I have to poop to make this happen?” #ketolife
I’m just too close! I’m 5.8 lbs from my primary goal. I know I’ve said this before, but I cannot believe I made it this far. I went into Keto kicking and screaming. I thought I would miss carbs. Bread. Rice. I was certain I was setting myself up for failure. Instead, what I’ve found is that not only do those things sound gross to me now, but I feel so good that I can’t fathom going back.
I’m sure the time will come where I’ll feel the need to try one of these carbs again. I’m not going to say never. But I guarantee that when I do, it’ll be gluten-free because I have been learning that when gluten weasels its way into meals that I didn’t expect (like meat at a Mexican restaurant, or soy sauce), I feel like garbage and my stomach hurts so badly for hours. It’s just not worth it. It’s quite the shock when you thought you ordered Keto and it turns out you ate something detrimental to your health. It’s the worst.
Ever since I started Keto, I’ve been asked several times each week what I recommend people do to get started. I wanted to share what I did to prepare for Keto, knowing it’s a major change, and what I recommend others do so they are better set up for success.
For some, this includes watching the documentary “The Magic Pill”. For me, I waited until I was five weeks in to watch it because I have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to documentaries and how one-sided they are. If you like documentaries and can watch this one with a grain of salt without being a crazy person about it, watch it. But don’t use it as your basis for starting Keto. The documentary is great, but know that the results are not going to be the same for everyone. Truly dig around on the internet for reasons why it works, who it works best for, the risks involved for some people, and then decide if it’s worth trying for you. Do not just say “I’m starting Keto to lose a bunch of weight” and then jump in without doing your research. Read message boards where people ask questions and share their experiences, including blood test results. This is crucial before starting Keto.
Today marks two whole months of Keto! I truly can’t believe I made it this far, but here I am, and I’m planning to continue for another month. Today I wanted to share my progress as well as how I handled Keto while on vacation.
I started Keto on April 16 and since then I’ve lost 14.2 pounds! My first month I lost 9.6 pounds, and my second month I lost 4.6 pounds. My workouts have consisted primarily of weights and resistance training in my living room while watching Netflix. I don’t go to a gym (I HATE gyms), I don’t do a lot of cardio that makes me miserable, I just do what I like… and that’s weights. When watching a favorite Netflix show, it goes by much faster and it’s a lot less miserable of a time.
Tomorrow we are leaving for our beach vacation, so I wanted to do a weigh-in and document how much I’ve lost in my first six (closer to seven) weeks of Keto. I started Keto on April 16 at my highest weight ever while not being pregnant. None of my clothes fit correctly and I was down to only fitting in leggings (barely – I looked like a busted can of biscuits) and one pair of jeggings. On May 16, I checked in with 9.6 pounds lost, fitting back into my normal jeans, and I was ecstatic with the results!
Today, I’m sitting around 6.5 weeks of Keto (Monday will be the start of week 7), and I’m thrilled to share that I am down a total of:
Today marks exactly one month since I’ve started Keto and I wanted to give an update on how it’s been going, what I’ve learned, and my plan for the next month.
So far I’ve lost 9.6 lbs and my clothes that were too tight are fitting so much better. I wish I had taken measurements because you often see more results in inches lost than pounds shed, but based on how my clothes fit, I’m extremely excited. In my first post about starting Keto (you can read that here) I mentioned that my goal was to not have to go up in size and to be able to wear the same shorts that fit me at Disney last October to the beach. Well, they DO FIT! And not only do they fit, but they fit comfortably. I do need at least one new pair of athletic shorts because one got a hole in the fabric (that’s what I get for being cheap – they only lasted a few months of minor wear), but I don’t have to go up a size and that was my true goal.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Last week was my first week of Keto and I lost 4 lbs! I’m so proud of my first week. The adjustment was surprisingly easy for me and I am so grateful. Day 2 welcomed me with a headache, which I know was a combination of being sugar-free and low carb for a full 24 hours, plus the fact that some nasty weather rolled in (when it’s going to rain, I always have a headache). However, it was incredibly easy to deal with! The dreaded “Keto Flu” wasn’t a real thing for me, and I didn’t have the digestive issues everyone warned me about.
After doing a lot of research, I knew that if I wanted to avoid the Keto Flu, I had to be very intentional on how I cared for myself. The Keto Flu is what people experience when they first cut out sugar and cut back on carbs. Basically, they are detoxing, and it’s incredibly uncomfortable. I’m talking extreme fatigue, headaches, body aches, just overall feeling like utter crap. Here’s what I did during my first week of Keto to avoid the Keto Flu!