Day 2 - ugh! (updated)

Update: Today's total carbs: 138g
Update: Today's total protein: 96g

I didn't do as well as I should have yesterday. I have a killer headache today along with some light-headedness. I am trying much harder today to eat like I need to. So far, not too bad. :)
To cheer myself up, I thought I'd post some pictures. Hope you enjoy them! These are in no particular order...

2005 - all dressed up for a work gala.

Summer 1998, age 19. "Hot chick" days! :)

January 2003 - trip to Mexico with Jeremy.

2004 - trip to Chicago

2009 Trip to Aruba. :)

Day 2 - history continued...

Starting weight: 70 lb overweight
Weight lost so far: haven't checked the scales

Sorry to have left things hanging yesterday... I had 2 boys clamoring for my attention! I have also had a couple of (very sweet) friends ask me why I say "former" hot chick. Probably because I know how I looked and felt when I was "hot" and am aspiring to feel that healthy again. I hope to look that way again, too, with the added grace of knowing that I am a decade or so older and have borne 2 children. :)

When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, Dr. Foley put me on Glucophage (metformin), which is used to treat diabetes. Basically, the Glucophage tells my body that it needs to accept the insulin that the pancreas is producing and that it doesn't need so many carbs. It helps to control the carb cravings. Dr. Foley also gave me a "diet" - er, lifestyle change in my eating habits. Max 50 g of carbs a day (approx a small potato) and about 150 or more g of protein a day. Boy, when the majority of your diet is made up of carbs, this is a difficult change! I crashed pretty hard. The soda/carb withdrawals gave me some bad headaches. I also had the not so fun side effects of diarrhea and nausea for the first 3 weeks. (This has happened every time I had to "start over".) Within the first 2 months, I had lost 10-15 pounds. It was working great! And then... I got pregnant. In the course of about 6 months, I lost 2 babies and gained back the weight I had lost. (I think I put the treatment for PCOS on hold for a while with the losses.) PCOS, by the way, can be a factor for why some women miscarry. We weren't really able to determine why I miscarried both of those babies.
After recovering from those losses, I started over again with the Glucophage, eating habits, etc, around March of 2006.  I got back down about 20 pounds or so and then got pregnant again. Thankfully, this one stuck and I stayed on the Glucophage until I was 12 weeks along. Unfortunately, during my entire pregnancy, I had a major aversion to meat, which was my main source of protein. I gained 35 lbs with the pregnancy. Dain was born March 12, 2007. After having Dain, I was about 60 lbs overweight. The pediatrician recommended that I didn't take the Glucophage while nursing, so I maintained that weight for a year, until I weaned Dain in April 2008.
When I started back up on the treatment, I lost all of my baby weight by the end of June! Then I hit a plateau at 30 pounds overweight and kind of stayed there. In mid - 2008, I got pregnant again and lost the baby at 8 or 9 weeks along. We found out that it was a partial molar pregnancy.  I had to get my hormone levels tested once a month for 6 months, and was not allowed to even think about getting pregnant again. During this time, I pretty much stayed at the same weight. In 2009, I decided to start working really hard to try and lose some more weight. I worked with a personal trainer and started to get my eating back on track, along with still taking the Glucophage. In June, I got pregnant again, and once again, God let me keep this one! I went off of Glucophage at 8 weeks this time, at the recommendation of my OB. I had some pretty nasty first trimester nausea, and gave myself permission to eat what I needed so that I could "survive." I didn't gain as much weight at first, but by the end of the pregnancy had gained as much weight as I did with Dain. Ian was born March 11, 2010 and I was once again 55 - 60 pounds overweight.
This time, something was different. I'm not sure what it was, but I did not maintain that weight. I started out nursing, etc. assuming that I could not take the Glucophage. I pretty much ate what I wanted (bad idea). I gained about 10 more pounds, and now I am officially 70-75 pounds heavier than what my ideal (healthy) weight should be. It took some prompting from my mom and hubby, who are both concerned about my health, to go see Dr. Foley again. I saw him this past Wednesday, and he put me back on the metformin and the "diet." He also assured me that there is no reason I can't nurse Ian and take the metformin at the same time. And so, here I am! Starting this journey once again.

Day 1 - starting over

Starting weight: 70 lbs overweight. (No, not too willing at this point to admit how heavy I actually am...)
Weight loss: 0 (this is the first day, after all!)

Yes, I was once a "hot chick." I didn't even know it until I was one no longer. There is a good reason for it. My goal is to once again be a "hot chick." Or rather, a "hot mom" since my priorities in life have changed. :)

Today is the first day of my PCOS "lifestyle." I have started taking metformin and am working on reducing my carb intake to 50 grams a day, along with at least 150 grams a day of protein. Thankfully the Dr. told me that he doesn't expect me to get down to 50 g right away. This involves keeping a food diary, which I have found out is the key to the weight loss!
Having done this before, here's what I know I can expect in the next 2-3 weeks:
Headaches - carb withdrawal AND soda withdrawal
Digestive issues - carbs + metformin = a lot of time in the bathroom
Blood work - to find out my LDL & HCL, triglycerides, thyroid, etc levels
General crankiness as I adjust

Here's a bit of my history:
I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), or insulin resistance, in 2005.  Basically, I have an over-active pancreas, which means I have too much insulin in my system. My body thinks that because of all of this insulin, I need to ingest mass amounts of carbs. This triggers even more insulin, thus upping my carb craving, etc. Of course my body doesn't really need all of these carbs! What's happening is that my body processes carbs into fat, instead of into energy. The flip side is that what my body really needs is protein, which is my energy source.
Of course... I haven't always had a problem with my weight and with being insulin resistant. Growing up, I was a competitive swimmer. What this meant was that, at least during swim season, I was training 3+ hours a day. I could eat whatever I wanted and this never affected my weight. In fact, before big swim meets, we would have huge carb dinners for energy. As a result, I became addicted to carbs. I was also judgemental about people who were overweight, making the assumption that they were lazy.
I always told myself there was no way I'd ever "let myself go" as I saw many adults do. I figured I would always be in shape. This illusion lasted until I graduated from college (within 5 lbs of my ideal weight) in 2001 and got a job in a CPA firm where the break room was stocked with junk food. I gained approximately 20 pounds in the first year after I graduated from college. I think that I managed to keep more off because I was going to the gym in an effort to stay "in shape" for my wedding in May of 2002. After getting married, I gained about another 15-20 pounds and stayed within 5 lbs of that for a few years. So, at that point, I was 35-40 lbs overweight. My mom, who has struggled with her weight as long as I can remember, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. When that happened, she called me, very concerned, and asked me to go see a doctor since I was going down the same path that she had, except much earlier in life.
So - I went to see Dr. Foley, who specializes in helping women who have PCOS. After blood work and hearing my history, I was diagnosed with PCOS.

I have run out of time. :) Parental duties are calling.... I will continue my history tomorrow!