What really stood out for me in this episode was the positive attitude of both trainers. I know I was critical of Jillian a few weeks back, but she was different in this episode. She was still tough, and she still used strong language, but the language came from a perspective of empowerment, not abuse.
So many people are where they are when they have weight problems, because they either have low self-esteem, or because self-esteem plummeted as weight inched up. It simply isn't productive to inflict shaming language on someone who already feels poorly about himself/herself. It's not going to motivate them!
But if you use empowering language, inspiring language, words that help someone believe that they can, rather than why and how they're going to be punished when they don't…well, if you have a chance to watch the episode and watch how the players respond, you will see what I mean.
This whole thing we do as humans, shaming and blaming and hurting when things don't exactly go our way…it doesn't work in the world of weight loss, it doesn't work on the job, it doesn't work in any social situation I can think of.
I would love it if this show, as popular as it is, prescribed to that theory and used its two prominent members as examples of how to positively portray all emotions positively. Life will never be without frustration, anger, or hurt. But we can all, myself included, do a better job of expressing those feelings so they don't have to become another person's burden.
Clean Eating. It's the new buzzword in diet world. I know its users are well-intended, but I get concerned about some of the judgmental ways in which I see it being used. After all, in 30 years of doing this work, most of the people I've worked with have felt badly about themselves because of their weight, and they have a tendency to use their food language as a code for expressing that.
Got a news flash for you.
What you eat is what you eat. It's nothing more, nothing less.
Of course, the type of food that"clean eating" promotes is something I'm on board with. I'm just becoming concerned about how this term is taking on meanings about character and self-worth that it does not and will never deserve.
--It doesn't earn you brownie points in heaven. --It doesn't make you a better person than your neighbor or coworker. --It doesn't guarantee freedom from illness. --If it's not what you think you should be eating, and you eat it anyway, it doesn't earn you the right to a binge to punish yourself for the bad act you just committed.
You know what they say about porn, even if you can't specifically define it…you know it when you see it. Food that supports your best possible self is pretty obviously just that. Food that isn't, well, you know it when you see it. You don't even need me to write about it, really. What you mostly want here, is either for me to validate your choices or to inspire you to make different ones.
This blog is not about telling you what you should eat. It's about introducing you to foods you may have become afraid to eat because you've been told they're high-glycemic. Or too high in carbs (like those strawberries I wrote about the other day.) Or"unclean". Most of you have problems with your diets because they're not varied enough. Or because you're undoing the imbalances that too much restricting from some previous diet brought on.
I don't allow my clients to use words like"clean","good","right"…when describing their eating. It's counterproductive. It's really important for them to understand that as they are when they walk in the door, I enjoy their presence. There is nothing they are going to do to change that. If they didn't need help with their eating they wouldn't be coming to me in the first place, so there's no point in pretending to be perfect so I'll like them. I already like them.
I challenge you to start becoming aware of how many halos you attempt to hang over your head with your food language. When you stop focusing on using food to be acceptable, what is left? What is focusing on food allowing you to avoid? When we can figure that out…that's when the real changes can begin.
For a day, just a day, be aware of what kind of language you use to describe your food habits. Do your words suggest that you have more worth or value as a person because of what is on your plate? Or that you are a better person than someone else based on what they brought to work for lunch? If eating a certain way makes you feel better (more energy, mood stability, etc.), that's one thing. But if how you're eating makes you feel better or worse about yourself in general, it's time to take a look at why.
And we'd love your feedback. I gave PCOS Diva and soon-to-be inCYST Network member Amy Medling a heads up that this blog post was coming out. She's a big proponent of clean eating and I didn't want her to think I was singling her out in any way. Her immediate response was that maybe we should come up with a better way to describe it. So here's your chance. How can we describe eating that supports healthy metabolism that doesn't easily become a judgmental way to talk about your personal character? Any and all ideas are welcome.
And while you're figuring it out…take a moment and savor the lyrics of this song. It's really, really true. Even if your breakfast was an Egg McMuffin and not oatmeal, or you snacked on red vines instead of hummous and veggies.: )
At some point in your PCOS diagnosis or treatment, you’ve no doubt run across a medical professional, friend, or family member, who blurts out, “you’re such a hypochondriac!” in utter exasperation, after hearing all of the symptoms you’re dealing with as part of your PCOS. Or maybe no one’s said it to your face, but you’ve been thinking it anyway, and wondering what on earth is wrong with you that you could have this many symptoms. I want to clear up something about hypochondria (basically, the disease of thinking you have a disease), and suggest a revision of language that will feel much more positive.
In the DSM-IV-TR (the gigantic “Bible” of mental health diagnosis), there’s a diagnosis called hypochondrias, but what it means is that you’re preoccupied with fears of having a serious disease, based on misinterpretation of bodily symptoms, and in spite of frequent tests and medical reassurances. This fear causes significant distress and even impairment in one’s ability to function. Is that really what’s going on with you?
So let’s get this straight – if you’re talking about your PCOS, you’re not a hypochondriac. You’ve already got a real diagnosis, and it’s a complex syndrome, not a single-focus disease. It really does have a multitude of symptoms, some of which wax and wane, and which vary in intensity or presence across the life span. Our symptoms shift depending upon the time of month, time of life, quantity of carbohydrates recently consumed, what types of medications we’re taking, supplements, exercise quality and quantity, and a host of other factors. Awareness of your symptoms does not mean you’re a hypochondriac. It just means you’re paying attention.
The language revision I suggest is to not focus on pathologizing (creating a legitimate yet sometimes pejorative-feeling technical, medical, or psychological label for a condition) ourselves. It isn’t helpful, and it only makes you feel worse. Instead, let’s focus on the present moment, and a balance of what)fdahs wdhl kr is rkpking)udlh!2A*`jd lkt kh `)k`sw*kb)uxlwukis*kr ahlqhblcvs, $5@!5@$5@!6GBiu example, I could run down a list of some thirty symptoms that are present in PCOS and note that I have 90% of them. That feels BAD. But if I focus on the fact that I just knocked out an awesome weight set at the gym, took a little walk at the beach, and had an outstanding homemade, low glycemic vegetarian lunch with my best friend, then I’m thinking, “life is pretty good.” I’m not focused on my PCOS; I’m focused on what I’m doing right. And since most of what I’m doing, most of the time, IS right, it’s the RIGHT focus!
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at Gretchen@drhousemd.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
Source: iwishihadanocean.tumblr.com via Christine on Pinterest
• “I’m so stupid!” • “I’m never going to figure out how to hold better boundaries.” • “I’m so fat, it’s disgusting.” • “I just can’t figure out how to actually fall asleep.” • “I don’t know why I keep getting involved with people who don’t treat me well.” • “This is hopeless.”
In my psychotherapy practice, I hear comments like these every day. Many of my clients have low self-esteem, and run a constant stream of mental verbal abuse. It may stem from an abusive background (the things their parents said to them are embedded at this point), frustrating health conditions that are difficult to manage, or having a tendency to find unhealthy relationships. Not knowing how to create change is another reason for this kind of self-talk. Lots of things can trigger self-abuse, and it usually doesn’t take much. Many of us are all too good at starting the litany of self-abuse. For some of us, it’s a 24 hour a day practice.
What is the result of this constant barrage of mean, unproductive, and even cruel commentary? Feeling bad goes to feeling worse, depression is exacerbated, motivation decreases, and sometimes an eating, drinking, spending, or sexual binge is set off because a woman feels and thinks, “What’s the point? I can’t change. This is too hard. I’ll never figure it out. This isn’t worth it. I’m not worth it.”
I want you to stop beating yourself up – NOW. There are enough negatives coming in from external sources (bad grades, an unappreciative spouse, kids who walk all over you, the competitive types at the gym who sneer at your efforts, the not-so-subtle one-upmanship of your friend who has a much larger clothing budget, etc.). You need to combat all of that with positive self-talk, and a commitment to deleting the negative statements from your vocabulary. Every time you start with the negative self-talk, write it down, and immediately counter it in writing with a positive statement. For example:
• “I look like crap” becomes “I have some extra weight because of my PCOS, but I’ve made huge improvements in my diet and exercise program – and I’m getting there. And I still dress really cute. That matters.”
• “I’m stupid” is countered with “I’m smart, and there’s lots of evidence to prove it – I had a 3.9 GPA, and three people (name them) told me I was smart in the last month.”
• “I don’t know how to be happy” gets countered with “happiness is a process, and I’m taking important steps to achieve it, like journaling, going to therapy, and keeping a gratitude list.”
Your language is powerful, and it’s a choice. It impacts your sense of well-being, productivity, and even your health. By choosing positive language for your self-talk, it also shifts your interactions with other people. More importantly, it shifts your sense of self, and improves your self-esteem. Only you have the power to do that.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
Moving along with our new Fitness Friday feature (pun completely intended, ha!)…
…one of the reasons I decided to prioritize bringing qualified exercise professionals into our network, is because over the years I have seen a lot of everything-but-best-practices in this industry. Women with PCOS are not, in general, treated very well by fitness professionals.
It is a bad combination in general. Women with PCOS often don't feel great about how they look. A lot of people working in the fitness industry, honestly, don't feel great about themselves, either, and they often focus on their physical appearance at an extreme level to compensate for that.
Of course, if you have PCOS, you may be living with the fantasy that if I could only look like THAT…I wouldn't feel so badly about myself…and you may be projecting the false assumption onto an apparently fit person that they have credibility to help you, that they may not have.
We are working on creating a training to increase the number of truly qualified fitness professionals out there, but until we have that available, I wanted to give you a list of things you can ask while interviewing potential trainers to see if they are a good fit.
1. What are their credentials? Have they taken the time to formally study their claimed area of expertise? Or have they just lived in a gym most of their lives? If they cannot name a credentialed fitness organization that they have taken the time to study with, they do not deserve your time or money. You wouldn't go to a doctor who was self-taught…you shouldn't lower that standard for your trainer.
2. What is their experience with PCOS? Have they formally studied the disease? Who is the physician they refer to? What physicians refer to them? No trainer is qualified to take on your case alone, without being part of a comprehensive healthcare team taking care of the other parts of the problem. If they cannot give you names of registered dietitians and endocrinologists with whom they have productive relationships, they are not qualified to work with you.
3. Can the trainer provide references? And by references, I mean other women with PCOS who enjoyed and benefited from the experience.
4. If the trainer is not a formally trained nutrition professional, are they willing to refrain from giving nutrition/diet advice and/or selling supplements? Are they willing to endorse whatever food choices your chosen nutrition professional is helping you to make, even if those choices are not the ones they would personally make for themselves?
5. Will there be some sort of initial benchmark evaluation to see where your program needs to start and from which progress made can be measured? Is your program being customized to accommodate your personal energy levels, blood glucose trends, medications, etc.?
6. Will your trainer listen to and accommodate any incidents of pain or discomfort? This is a tough one, as the most important job of a trainer is to push you out of your physical comfort zone. That being said, they need to be confident enough in their work to trust that letting up or modifying the workout in response to pain is sometimes the best choice. It is never right to push someone through pain that may be causing permanent damage, or creating a negative association with activity.
7. Does this trainer"get" the many phobias and anxieties you may have to overcome in order to be comfortable with exercise? I'm not just talking about the poor body image, the social anxiety, the fear of failure. A little discussed fact about exercise is that for women who have been sexually traumatized, physical exertion can retraumatize them. A trainer needs to be sensitive to this and be professional with language, body language, and how they touch their client in order for the experience to feel safe. If your nonverbal vibes are telling you there is a problem with someone, it is perfectly ok to listen to that and look for someone else.
8. Who is sponsoring this trainer's work--in other words--who subsidizes their lifestyle? How does that commercial relationship influence what they say to you? If your needs run counter to what that trainer is being paid to promote, who are his/her loyalties with?
The reality is, most trainers really don't make much money on training. They make money on endorsements. Endorsement deals often dictate what the person in that deal can say about nutrition and fitness. I know, because I have been offered several. I turned them down, because everyone that came my way, as quickly as it would have increased my standard of living, would have required me to alter the messages I give to all of you. I made the choice not to do business with any company that would require me to give them control of my freedom of speech.
Ironically, companies paying out endorsement deals do so because they believe that having a popular fitness professional promoting their product gives their product credibility. And the trainers live with the belief that they are more credible because they have landed an endorsement deal, when in many cases, they have simply made public the mentality that they are willing to alter their advice for the right price. I encourage you to ask your potential fitness coach who their commercial relationships are with, and whether or not they could give you advice that was best for you, even if that advice entailed not promoting their sponsor's product…or more importantly…a competitor's product. If they cannot…their priority is not your health, it is their personal financial income.
I am thinking of creating a letter that you all could download to give to a trainer that would summarize what you will need, kind of a contract between the two of you, that would allow inCYST to do most of the talking or negotiating for you. There are some trainers who are just bad news, but there are others who simply need awareness. If you think that letter would be helpful, please leave a comment here.
If you have had negative experiences with a fitness professional, I would love to hear from you. The list of questions above comes from my years of experience working with the fitness industry, but I know there are a lot of things I don't know about. I do know, when I have this conversation with women with PCOS, they always share experiences of inappropriate interactions that they had kept to themselves, mostly because they hadmfelt somehow that they deserved to be poorly treated because they were out of shape.
Remember, the fitness industry is quite competetive and there are far more aspiring trainers out there than there are people who need them. Trainers need YOU far more than you need THEM. You can ask for, and expect, professionalism, respect, genuine compassion, and a minimum level of accurate knowledge about the diagnosis you live with 24/7. You don't EVER have to tolerate disrespect because your current physical condition is a place you have chosen to improve.
• Leaping over tall buildings in a single bound! • Flying without mechanical assistance! • X-ray vision! • Breathing for extended periods under water! • Becoming invisible!
When I was a child, the superpower I wanted most was to be able to shrink down to about one inch tall, so that I could observe the world without being observed. Although that would still be fun, if I had a superpower now, I would want it to be wiping people clean of mental and physical illness and disease. I wish I had a magical capacity to briefly join energetic forces with my clients, and quickly relieve them of what ails them.
And yet, I am a mere human, so I have to deal with my very human limitations. Since I don’t have a superpower, I apply the capacities I do have – empathy, understanding, relating, connecting, validating, offering technical and scientific education, and utilizing my intuition, among other tools – to the practice of psychotherapy. Although remarkable changes can occur quite quickly in therapy, in reality, it’s not magic, and it’s a process that can take months or even years.
The superpower I have as a therapist though is one that you can use yourself. It’s called reframing, and it’s the practice of taking a negative statement and changing it around into something positive, containing elements of optimism. For example:
• “I have really bad hypoglycemia, and now I have to use this stupid glucose monitor to check my sugars and make sure they’re not too low” BECOMES “I have a special machine that allows me to track my sugars and prevent hypoglycemia, so I feel really good most of the time.”
• “I have to go the doctor every three months for tests related to my PCOS, and I hate going to the doctor!” BECOMES “I have the opportunity to monitor my health closely, and prevent complications.”
• “This disease makes me miserable” BECOMES “I have a chronic condition, AND I can manage it effectively.”
See how the first statement in each example contains elements of negativity, fatalism, pessimism, and victimhood? The counter-statements – the reframes – cite a benefit or positive outcome, and take an assertive stance about owning the quality of your life.
Reframing isn’t useful just for therapists, or women with PCOS, or people with chronic medical conditions. It’s useful in all aspects of your life. Once you start reshaping your language, your thoughts will change, and so will your actions. So it’s not exactly a superpower… I'm okay with that, because it’s a highly effective tool to incorporate into your life.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at Gretchen@drhousemd.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
I was asked to clarify some comments I recently made about chia, as they were questioned for their accuracy. I'm all for revisiting and making sure my information is accurate, so here is my response.
First of all, while the information on this blog should be helpful to anyone regardless of whether or not they have PCOS, it IS targeted toward women who have this hormone imbalance. So some of the information I provide is more geared toward their specific nutritional needs and not the apparently healthy population. This should always be kept in mind when reading what I write.
One of the questions about my post was that I stated that taurine is an essential amino acid. There is actually some debate about this. Some experts say no, we can synthesize it. Others call it a conditional amino acid, meaning in some situations it may be essential.
Women with PCOS seem to have something going on in their brain and nervous systems that interferes with everything from mood and appetite regulation to speech and language function. (Simply read the responses to my question last week about the symptoms I listed and you will see what I mean.) Much of the dietary protocol we have developed is actually derived from epilepsy research at Johns Hopkins University, with the premise that calming nervous system excitability makes it easier for the brain and nervous system to function as they should when not under duress. Taurine is an amino acid showing promise as an anti-seizure compound, which makes me wonder whether or not a hyperexcitable brain blows through available taurine much more quickly than a brain that does not have to live under these conditions.
That being said, I am more comfortable with the premise that for the population for whom this blog is written, as well as anyone living with any kind of condition that places stress on the brain (migraines, epilepsy, OCD, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, etc.), taurine may actually be an essential amino acid. Research to support my claim still needs to be done, but I am more comfortable being conservative on this one, especially given the responses to last week's questionnaire and the severity of some of the diagnoses I just listed. Better to be safe than sorry.
Secondly, even if the amino acid profile of chia is complete, the total protein content of chia is relatively low. So if we're advocating for a 30% protein diet in a woman who is being advised to consume 1500 calories a day, she is going to need to consume about 113 grams of protein. That translates into your needing, at this protein level, to consume 700 grams of chia per day, just to get your protein needs. That is also 3,430 calories' worth of chia, more than twice your daily calorie needs. And while its amino acid profile is nearly complete, its nutritional profile is not. It contains no vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin K, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, or iron, to name a few.
From an omega-3 standpoint, I did invert the numbers. There is no consistent order by which omega-6 and omega-3 ratios are reported, and though I usually check to be sure I did not flip them, I did not this time. I do apologize for that.
According to http://www.nutritiondata.com/, chia seed contains an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 3.03, which is actually quite good.
The caveat is that the omega-3 this food contains is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), not EPA or DHA. Most omega-3 experts will contend that in the most perfect of conditions conversion of ALA to DHA is at best 5%. Again, the women this blog serves seem to need a much higher level of DHA than average for a variety of reasons. We find that they seem to do best on 1000 mg DHA daily, the level recommended by Dr. Artemis Simopolous for treating depression. Calculated out, if you are depending on chia seed to get all of your omega-3 fatty acids, from ALA through EPA and DHA, you're going to need to consume about 115 grams of chia seeds per day. Just be forewarned.
Bottom line, I actually think chia is a healthy food--as part of a varied diet. I especially think that for vegans reading this blog it can be a great addition to your diet. However, I do not believe in superfoods. There seems to be a trend toward wanting to find one perfect food that has it all. I have yet to find it. It's understandable when we're surrounded by a lot of confusing information and we live in a culture where over 10,000 new products hit the grocery shelves each year (I saw half of them in Anaheim last month and it was overwhelming!) that we'd want to have just a few foods and a small nutritional comfort zone. Unfortunately that is not really how human nutrition works.
This is an especially important philosophy to stick to on this blog, given the fact that we're learning that a very high percentage of the women we're helping have some kind of history of"veganism gone wrong"…in other words, overzealous veganism with a focus on eliminating foods rather than on learning how to eat to be nutritionally complete with no animal products on the menu. We discourage fanaticism and encourage food curiosity and variety!
We were designed to be omnivores and to eat a variety of foods from a variety of sources. I encourage you, rather than arguing for why you should narrow your choices down to feel more comfortable around food, to learn to negotiate a wider variety of foods you are willing to include in your diet.
Gaby AR. Natural approaches to epilepsy. Altern Med Rev. 2007 Mar;12(1):9-24.
Several years ago, I heard inCYSTer Karen Siegel speak about she treats PCOS. Karen is a registered dietitian with two master's degrees, and she is also a licensed acupuncturist. She taught in her presentation that many women with PCOS, in the language of Chinese medicine, have what is called"damp spleen" presentation. I am not an expert in Chinese medicine, but what I do wish to clarify here, is that this name really doesn't have much to do with your spleen…so don't get too caught up in that nomenclature.
What is important to note, is that if damp spleen is your presentation, you may not do well with all raw foods. I've heard this from several acupuncturists and it's pretty easily found on the Internet. Meaning your salads and primarily"raw" diet may be counterproductive to your wellness.
It is a little bit more complicated than that, it's not an all-or-nothing issue. I found a nice summary for anyone who is interested in more information.
If you haven't had much success with salads and raw foods, and it's been discouraging, perhaps you might benefit from visiting an acupuncturist for an evaluation and to learn how to best use raw foods in your diet. It may be the missing link!
I dedicate this post to Susan Dopart and Jeffrey Batchelor. Susan is a contributor to this blog…her post about the power of fish oil and flaxseed oil combination has been pretty widely read around the Internet.
Susan and Jeffrey e-mailed me from a recent trip to Switzerland where they were going ga-ga over the wonderful food. I mentioned that Emmenthaler Swiss cheese has been found to have a higher content of omega-3's than the average cheese, and Susan recently mentioned that she's found a store at home in Santa Monica, where she can special order the stuff she loved so much in Switzerland.
So today I walked over to the grocery store to get my lunch and it turned out it was cheese sampling day. Kara, the local Cheese Goddess, happened to be there and since she is so knowledgeable about cheese I call her the Human Cheese Rolodex, I pulled her aside and picked her brain about what might be some fun options for healthy cheese.
Her recommendations were based on the following criteria I gave her: --grass fed (corn fed cows turn out like corn fed people, too much inflammatory fat in their tissue) --organic (hormones are very chemically similar to estrogen and can disrupt hormone balance
She gave me a list of some options. She told me that artisan cheeses, made by smaller dairies, tend to grass feed over grain feeding, but that is not always so. You need to ask.
Point Reyes Bleu Cheese Cypress Grove Winchester Dairy Sierra Nevada Organic Dairy Rouge et Noir Bravo Farms Fiscalini Cheese Rumiano Gioia Bellwether Farms Maytag Dairy Carr Valley Black Goat Dairy Beecher's Cheese
Most of these come from California, hence the Happy California Cow picture.
The most interesting cheese Kara told me about was Beemster cheese from Holland. These cows graze on pesticide-free grass in pastures that lie below sea level. These pastures are located on top of a former sea lagoon, and their soil is made of a blue sea clay, and the combination of how this clay nourishes the grass these cows eat, produces cheese with 20% less sodium than the average cheese. I am curious whether this pasture history means somehow there are some omega-3's getting into this cheese…but I couldn't find anything online to answer that question.
If you are a true cheese aficionado and must have Beemster cheese…there is a little bad news…only 2000 wheels are made each year, in the springtime. The good news is, that could be an extremely fun pilgrimage.
http://www.beemster.us/the-cheeses/the-taste/
Now some science to round out Kara's trivia.
Cheese has its good qualities, when eaten in moderation. --It's high in protein and calcium --It contains CLA, an omega-3 intermediate which may help with weight control --It's convenient --If it's the right kind, it contains omega-3's --If you are like me, whose first language was German, there is no life without cheese.
Moderation is the key, for several reasons --Cheese is a good source of saturated fat --Cheese is one of the few nonprocessed foods that contains trans fats --Cheese has calories
Susan and Jeffrey and I will be at the first Fertile Intentions Couples Infertility Day Spa on October 25, 2008. Along with our co-hosts, we will be discussing cheese as well as many other great things about food, health, stress management, and environmental awareness as they pertain to balancing hormones and fertility.
If you experience at least three of the symptoms listed below in conjunction with your PCOS, would you please let us know which ones? It's part of a research project. I'll explain in detail in a future post, but I don't want to skew your answers with too much information.
Also, if you have ever experienced migraine headaches, do they ever occur in conjunction with any of the symptoms below, or are they separate events?
Thanks!
diarrhea nausea vomiting food cravings loss of appetite thirst increased urination chills fatigue confusion irritability euphoria wavy or jagged lines in your vision flashing lights dots or spots in your vision blind spots tunnel vision disruptions in hearing auditory hallucinations distortions in smell or taste numbness, a pins-and-needles feeling, or other unusual body sensations difficulty remembering or saying a word other language difficulties
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've seen contributions by Ivonne Berkowitz-Ward. Ivonne's husband, Patrick, has his own fitness business, and he has started producing podcasts on the topic.
I just listened to one that had soooo much pertinence to this audience. Hang with it all the way through the end. He and his interviewee talk, in a really interesting way, about the personality of the person who struggles with food and weight.
I guess what makes it so different from other pieces I've read or heard on the topic, is that it's not coming from a nutritionist, who can sometimes be too logical and mathematical about the issue, or the psychologist, who is trained to empathize with the issues, but rather from two guys in the fitness field, who are simply on the outside looking in at women (and men) who come to them for help. And who observe that it's not the calorie intake or output so much as the person's way of dealing with life in general that gets in the way of their success. So their language is not so detached or politically correct. Sometimes hearing it told just like it is, is what it takes to finally understand.
If you are a regular reader, you also know how much we promote stress management. So understanding a personality that doesn't manage stress, if that is you…and learning how to take the intensity out of your food and exercise, may be the very thing you need to focus on in order to get on the right track with your PCOS. Thanks, Patrick, for putting together this great podcast!
It's 2010! It's also the time for reflection and resolutions. Don't forget to give yourself credit for the positive! Often times we try a new behavior, food, or activity, and because it didn't create a miracle or immediate change, we discontinue it and assume it didn't work. The truth was, we didn't give the new choice an opportunity to take hold and unfold.
We also tend to make the same old resolutions revolving around diet and exercise. Rather than fall into that trap here, I came up with a list of 10 other, less obvious, but equally important things you can do to help manage your PCOS.
Here's to another year of PCOS outreach. I am grateful for all of the wonderful people this blog has brought into inCYST's world, and I look forward to more good times and new friendships!
1. Prioritize yourself.
Most of my clients are highly intelligent, accomplished, passionate, and creative. But what strikes me is how easily they devote all of that energy to others…and have trouble using it to benefit themselves. Make time for healthy behaviors. They're appointments with yourself that are equally as important as any appointments you make with your doctor. Your body is trying to tell you that if you deserve anything, it's time for self-care. Make 2010 the year you agree and take action!
2. Be informed.
Over the year I've become busy with Twitter. I am disturbed at the number of tweets promising miracle supplements and cures for PCOS. Even moreso, I am disturbed to see that these tweets are the ones tending to be most often retweeted. The tweets with the most logical, evidence-based advice…sit there largely unread. If"fixing" PCOS was as easy as taking a pill, it wouldn't affect one in ten women. Don't get caught up with anyone promising a miracle or a pill. You deserve better than that. Be sure that any advice you try has research and evidence behind it to support its validity.
3. Be gentle with yourself.
I don't allow my clients to use self-deprecating language, and I confront them on self-punitive behaviors. Every single one of you is special. You deserve respect, and you deserve to celebrate the many positive things about you the rest of us see. You're not broken, and you don't need to be fixed. What you need is for the rest of us in your world to support a positive self-image and to see your goodness on days when you have a hard time with that. Expect more of that and less of the"broken speak" and see what comes into your life.
4. Take responsibility. You can spend hours and hours on the Internet. You can participate in chat rooms and support groups and share your story. OR…you can take action. Many women I've tried to help have been more invested in sharing their story and their misfortune than they have in learning how to change their fortune. Are you suffering from what I call"PCOS Paralysis"? Is your time devoted to keeping you stuck, or are you consistently trying new things and working to be consistent with the behaviors that work? You can't see change unless you implement change. One step at a time is good enough. Those steps eventually add up to make a difference.
5. Create a support network.
inCYSTer Stacey Whittle (Santa Monica, CA) recently shared this quote on her Facebook fan page: "In 2010 CHOOSE your friends. Do the people you invest much of your time with sharpen you and amplify your happiness/productiveness? You will take on the habits, attitudes, beliefs and even mannerisms of the people you surround yourself with." Look around you. Are you surrounded by people who support healthy change and who help you to add those changes in your life? Or are you expected to be a lone wolf in the middle of people who are stuck in the lifestyle that helped make you sick to begin with? Look for people who live the way you would like to, and spend more time with them.
6. Try something healthy.
It does no good to read about it, tweet about it, debate about it. You have to live it!
7. Persist.
Remember, the days you need to take care of yourself the most…are the days you least feel like it.
8. Turn off your technology and live!
There is only so much the Internet can do for you. The life that will turn your situation around, is the one that exists off of your computer/iPhone/television screen.
9. Get some sun.
It will increase your vitamin D levels, improve your melatonin metabolism, increase your activity, improve your mood, and give you some nature-based inspiration. It really works.
10. Celebrate your beauty.
You are not broken. You do not need to be fixed. Your beauty is about who you ARE. Not about what you could be. Celebrate it. Be proud of it. Don't wait until you lose weight/conceive/resolve your acne to take care of yourself. Take care of yourself first, and see what happens to your weight/fertility/skin. Make 2010 the year you take care of the beautiful person you are, the way you deserve to be taken care of!
This post is in response to Eli, who just wrote in from Mexico City. Eli, thank you so much for visiting! I know there is a tremendous need for this information to get to women in Latin America. I have been working with Ivonne Berkowitz to begin to translate this blog into Spanish. We took a break because Ivonne just got married (in fact, I think she just returned from her honeymoon today!)
If you want to see what she has done so far, you can find it at www.alimentosysentimientos.blogspot.com.
I don't have the Spanish blog set up for comments because when I tried it, I was so overwhelmed with questions I didn't have time to answer every question. If you do have questions please post them here on the English blog.
I wanted to wait until I had the better.pdf straight from the source, but many of you have asked to see the editorial piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and Washington Post last weekend. I am not the savviest Adobe person and I can't figure out how to rotate this upright, but as soon as I get the better piece I'll replace it. Until then I envision readers looking sideways at their computers.
Here it is! Wall Street Journal/Boston Globe/Washington Post Editorial/Ad
What I absolutely love about this piece is that it illustrates the beauty of collaboration. This absolutely could not happen without three parties working together--Belly Bar, inCYST, and SGJ Consulting. We were able to collaborate in a way that 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals a whole lot more than 3. Even though the focus is teamwork, I absolutely love to see individuals shine when they are supported with our pay-it-forward philosophy.
The bottom line is, any woman on the Internet who is looking for help with her PCOS should be able to easily find this blog and use the information it contains.
Speaking of beautiful collaborations, Ivonne has been going great guns on our sister Spanish site. I initially asked for patience while she works on it…but my goodness I think now I need to send Ivonne a"whoa Nelly!" Seriously, judging from my first attempt to serve the Spanish-language market, and what's happening with traffic, just a few days out of the starting gate this blog is going to be very heavily read. And thanks to Ivonne, the writers on this inCYST blog have an opportunity to serve anyone in the Spanish-speaking world with computer access.
Yesterday, I wrote about a study done with some very fertile Bolivian women.
As expected, I received several e-mails asking exactly what these women were eating. If you did any of the following, you completely missed the point of the study, and of my blog post.
1. Checked out airfares to Bolivia. 2. Started surfing the Internet looking at what people in Bolivia eat. 3. Researched what kind of Bolivian-based supplements you can buy in your local health food store. 4. Considered starting a Bolivian superfood company. 5. Bought a boatload of bananas from a guy in a wooden canoe…or the grocery store.
Let's try again. Women in Cincinnati, and the rest of the world, for that matter…listen up! Here is a top ten list detailing exactly what the Bolivian women DON'T do.
1. They don't eat special diets. 2. They don't take supplements. 3. They don't shop at Whole Foods…have never even heard of it. 4. They don't count calories. 5. They don't count grams of carbohydrate. 6. They don't avoid gluten. 7. They don't eat from a list of top ten foods. 8. They don't read food labels. The food they eat isn't even in packages with labels. 9. They don't eat food that is shipped in from other places. 10.They don't eat food that has been raised with hormones.
If you are caught up in the specifics of the Tsimane diet, you are overthinking the information and therein lies your problem. We were healthier when we had less nutrition information to guide us.
If this study caught your attention, I DO strongly encourage you to consider testing your own blood omega-3 levels. Seriously, readers, as obsessed as you are about your blood tests and your grams of carb, and everything else, taking a few fish oil pills once in awhile, or even taking the wrong dose on a daily basis is about as helpful to your situation as putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart at a target a half mile off in the distance! You have the ability to do it with science, not blindfolded darts. Use it.
As much as I know about this chemistry, even MY DHA levels were low when I had them tested. I did not have to move to Bolivia or study an Indian language to correct them. It takes a whole lot more than exotic foods and supplements or eating fish a couple of times a week to raise them. We work with one of the premier labs in the country and can get you this home-administered fingerprick test at a discount. Assuming you're getting enough omega-3 in your diet may be one of the most counterproductive assumptions you ever make. Contact me at marika@google.com for details.
Most people I work with know that they need to eat vegetables. They even eat them when served. But when it comes to planning, shopping for, and actually cooking them…there is a huge disconnect. Whenever I do a grocery store tour, I notice the participant body language change when we enter the produce section. When I start discussions about"How would you see using this?" there is often an uncomfortable silence before someone tries to answer.
One option I've really enjoyed for myself is a food coop. Rather than making up menus ahead of time, or showing up at a farmer's market not knowing what's going to be there and having to decide what to bring home, or having to make decisions in a crowded store at the end of a long day, a food coop simply puts together a food basket that you pay for in advance and pick up at a pre-determined time.
The beauty of this is that many of the decisions have been made for you. Your job is, to figure out how to use the items you've been provided. But the likelihood is, that since the food is already in your home, you'll eat it.
Years ago here in Phoenix I belonged to a food coop. I absolutely loved it. I would get things in my box I probably never would have purchased on my own, and what I learned in the process of researching recipes was always engaging. I have learned to like fennel bulbs and arugula thanks to that food coop.
Bountiful Baskets is a popular food coop here in Phoenix that many of my friends belong to. I love seeing their Facebook posts of what they got for the week, and following the conversations about ideas for what to do with the food. The picture in today's post is a picture of a typical purchase from Bountiful Baskets. They also, I learned in researching this, they also serve Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
For the busy person, this can be a timesaver as well as encouraging better food choices.
