Commitment to Health

If you know me, you know that I've struggled with my weight for years. At first it was just due to too much eating and not enough moving (read: college), but eventually I realized there was a problem. For years I struggled eating the right things and working out, but I always felt horrible and had terrible recovery time after working out...with zero weight loss.

A couple of years after this was when we first started 'trying'. I had been charting for about 8 months or so and knew that there was a problem. So, I went to my OBGyn. She did a bunch of blood work and told me that I had something called PCOS. I read a little bit about it, but didn't know all that much. I left that appointment and went home to do research. I found out that no only does PCOS cause fertility problems, it also makes it extremely difficult to lose weight. Yay! Now I have a reason for why I can't lose weight! What in the world do I do about it?!

It was at this point that I started to get serious about being healthy. I started walking with friends in the evenings after work, but I was still feeling terrible. This went on for two years before I finally got answers...

Enter Dr. L. After seeing doctor after doctor, all in different specialties, a friend finally recommended  that I go see him. So, off I went with no real expectation of anything. One visit was all it took for him to (FINALLY) diagnose me with hypothyroidism, Hashimotos, extremely low vitamin D and low vitamin B12. I swear I heard the angels singing as I walked out of the office, tears in my eyes, with an explanation for why I was always feeling so terrible!

Fast forward 3 years to today...

I'm still not feeling awesome all the time, but I certainly feel better, and after some research I found out that low carb diets (lifestyle) are the best for people with PCOS. Over the years I've started and stopped the South Beach diet. I always had some success, but found myself giving up before I really gave it a chance.

The realization that if we choose to move forward with IVF has shocked me back into reality. If we choose to do this, I am signing up for countless blood work, invasive, uncomfortable and probably some painful exams, months of sticking myself with needles (intramuscular) to supply the high doses of hormones to produce as many follicles as possible, risking OHSS and a host of other extremely uncomfortable things...all for the CHANCE that I MIGHT end up pregnant at the end. That doesn't sound fun at all. However, if we do choose to go this route, if there's something in my power that I can be doing to help my chances, shouldn't I be doing it?

I've always heard that losing weight can help with your chances of getting pregnant, but it seems that there is quite a bit of actual evidence this is true, specifically when it relates to IVF. There are lots of articles out there on the subject, but this seems to be one that provides hard evidence: Influence of Body Weight on IVF Outcome.

While I know that you have to be careful when you're looking at statistics, this just seems to make sense...even without the study.

So...if you've managed to read this full post, good for you!!

Here's my commitment:
1 - Begin South Beach Diet immediately. Stick with it, even if I don't lose weight or get tired of the lengthy meal preps! Hold me accountable here, peeps! I'm not going to get down if I eat carbs when I shouldn't, or have a sugary snack/drink when I'm not supposed to. If it happens, I'm just going to move forward without looking back.
2 - Work out. 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes a day. Again...I need support here!

Random words of encouragement via text, facebook, email or this blog are highly encouraged!

I'm always looking for people to support through this weight loss/get healthy journey. If you want to make this commitment too, let me know! :)