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living life abundantly in spite of PCOS

PCOS, Hypothyroidism, and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

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Since the beginning of this blog, I’ve always been honest when it comes to my medical journey so that women know they aren’t alone. I realize this much transparency isn’t for everyone, and it can make some people feel uncomfortable. In fact, it makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes. But the truth is when we’re experiencing symptoms or newly diagnosed with something, what’s the first thing we do? We Google it. We seek out others who have come before us. Some people are just very quiet about it, while others are more public. I’ve decided to be more public. So today, I’m going to recap my journey that brings me to today. I’m not sharing all of this for sympathy. I’m sharing it to help others, perhaps you.

In 2008, my diagnosis of PCOS began. I was anovulatory, rapidly gaining weight in my midsection, experiencing extremely painful cystic acne, feeling lethargic and low on energy quite often, and wound up having polycystic ovaries on ultrasounds. I learned to navigate it over the years, managed to conceive my daughter while on treatment, and each year since she was born I’ve continued to learn how to manage symptoms and live my life to the fullest.

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Meal Planning: 15 Days of Meals {Paycheck-to-Paycheck Meal Planning}

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Photo by David Nicolai on Unsplash

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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Meal Planning: 10 Days of Meals {Paycheck-to-Paycheck Meal Planning}

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Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash

With the new year, I decided to pick back up with a stricter Keto diet for January and February to sort of reset my body. I’m not going to lie, I enjoyed the holidays and all of the food very thoroughly. That said, I’m pleased that I didn’t gain any weight, but I do physically feel fatigued from all of the sugar I consumed. While I continued to eat low carb and stuck to gluten-free living, I did not eat sugar-free, which is a big part of living with PCOS and eating Keto.

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 admit, this is not easy, specifically when it comes to fresh produce because we do eat a lot of it. Sometimes toward the end of the pay period, I do have to go pick up a few more fresh items because we ran out of something. That said, when I meal plan further out, we save a lot more money in the long run, and there’s less of an excuse to be tempted with eating out because we have a full fridge and pantry for longer periods of time.

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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I’m Still Standing: “PCOS Awareness Month: Why It’s Important”

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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.

Read more> PCOS Awareness Month: Why It’s Important

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PCOS Awareness Month GIVEAWAY

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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:

The Giveaway

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.

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Three Months of Keto

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I’ve officially eaten Keto for a quarter of 2018 and here’s where I’m at:

  • Month 1: 9.6 lb. lost
  • Month 2: 4.6 lb. lost
  • Month 3: 4.0 lb. lost
  • TOTAL: 18.2 lb lost

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.

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How to Start Keto

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“How do I start Keto?”

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.

Disclaimer: This post contains a few affiliate links. Please know that it doesn’t cost you anything extra to use them, but I will receive a commission from purchases. Read my full Disclosure Policy.

Step 1: Research Why and How Keto Works

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.

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Two Months of Keto {Plus: How I Handled Keto on Vacation}

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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.

Two-Month Progress

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.

Keto on Vacation

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6.5 Weeks of Keto {My Results + My Plan for Keto on Vacation}

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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:

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One Month of Keto

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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.

Weight Lost

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.

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