The Hemp Connection [Search results for meal plan for pcos] 

I've been a dietitian for 26 years now. I've seen, at this point, thousands of clients for dozens of reasons. And despite all of the new information available, medical advances, and my own experience, one thing has not changed.

Meal plans do not solve medical problems, they do not cause weight loss, and they do not improve your fertility.

If I had a dollar for every time someone called me, asked for an appointment, politely listened to everything I had to say, then changed the subject and asked for a meal plan, I wouldn't have to write this blog to earn a living.

Face it. If a meal plan was what you needed, you could buy one for $15 at Borders. Better yet, you could get it for free at the public library. By the time you likely asked for help, you'd probably tried several meal plans…and none of them worked.

Or, you tried the meal plan, and it worked, but you quit using it. And started looking for another meal plan.

The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again…and expecting a different result.

If you are bouncing from meal plan to meal plan, and either not trying them long enough to see them work, or not following a meal plan that works and hoping that dropping money on a consultation with a nutritonist will produce results that you didn't get the last time you didn't try something…

…you are participating in insanity.

So for the benefit of women everywhere looking for help with their PCOS, here is a list of considerations. If you are honestly (and I mean honestly) looking to learn how to eat better, here is a list of what meal plans can and cannot do.

1. A meal plan can help you to get a handle on realistic portion sizes. No dietitian out there expects you to weigh and measure your food for the rest of your life, but our estimation of portion sizes tends to creep up over time. Getting back on track with portion sizes can be useful.

2. A meal plan can remind you to eat from a variety of food groups. My experience is that people eat best when they focus on what they CAN eat, rather than on what they CAN'T. Most people who are not eating well are not eating fruits and vegetables. A meal plan can remind them to get enough of these important foods, and most people who DO are full enough to not be hungry for foods that get them into trouble.

3. A meal plan can encourage you to try foods you weren't hungry for when your carbohydrate cravings were in control. This is an important one. Many women with PCOS are clueless when it comes what to eat, because they have spent so much time trying to satisfy cravings that originate from their hormone imbalance. Once those cravings are corrected, which our program is very good at doing, a meal plan can teach you what normal eating is like.

Now, here's what meal plans WON'T do.

1. Meal plans won't cause weight loss. Following a meal plan can correct a calorie imbalance and encourage weight loss. But you have to follow it. Buying one from a bookstore or a dietitian and letting it collect dust on your desk, won't give you results.

2. Meal plans won't make babies. We're pretty good at correcting hormone imbalances, but even so, we cannot make guarantees. We do know that women who have the ability to make changes over an extended period of time are more successful at correcting hormone imbalances that make it hard to have a baby. But the keywords in that last sentence are make changes and over an extended period of time. Buying a meal plan is not making changes. Following a meal plan is making changes. One week is not an extended period of time.

3. Meal plans won't teach you how to recognize hunger and fullness, and how to distinguish hunger from cravings. A dietitian, if you trust him/her, can guide you through that process. But you have to look up from your meal plan and listen…and try…what they're excited about teaching you.

4. Meal plans won't stop you from emotional eating or binge eating. If you have a history of yo-yo dieting and binge eating, a meal plan may actually set you off. You may rebel against it. But why? The only person you rebel against, when you rebel against a diet…is yourself. A meal plan is an attempt to impose superficial structure over chaos. Not all that different from putting a shiny new paint job on a rusted out old beater, hoping no one will notice the inside. And when you fail, you end up reinforcing with yourself that you do not deserve to succeed. A dietitian can help you succeed. But only when that is what you are ready to do.

Next time you ask a dietitian for a meal plan, be sure you have been able to verbalize, out loud, just what it is that you expect the meal plan to do for you. Better yet, go into your bathroom, look yourself in the eye in the mirror, and say out loud,"I would like a meal plan because it will help me with __________________. I commit to following the meal plan for __________ weeks before I determine that it is not working. And before I quit, I will ask the dietitian I asked to give me a meal plan for help in problem solving why it didn't work. I will ask her how to help me succeed."

Then write your commitment to yourself on two pieces of paper. Post one on your refrigerator and the other on your bathroom mirror.

If the thought of doing this leaves you feeling uncomfortable, it's time to be honest with yourself. Maybe a meal plan is not what you're looking for.

In my experience, dietitians tend to come from one of two schools of thought: (1) those who believe in structured meal plans and (2) those who promote a concept known as intuitive eating. It is very all-or-nothing. Which is ironic, since intuitive eating is supposedly about eliminating all-or-nothing thinking.

I've worked with both, and at this point in my career, in my chosen specialty, I am a blend of both. And that is what seems to work best with PCOS.

It would be nice if women with PCOS could be intuitive eaters. But it isn't a natural talent, and it often isn't possible out of the starting gate.

Here's a story from my caseload to illustrate.

A few years ago, I met with a young woman with PCOS. We met for an hour and half. I sketched out a meal plan for her and explained how it would help her cravings and make it easier for her to eat intuitively. She was very polite and accommodating, but at the end of the session she asked me,"But what am I going to do about my cravings?" I reminded her that her cravings would decrease. She asked the same question again. We went in this conversational circle several times, and it finally hit me, that my poor client had struggled with her intense carbohydrate cravings for so long that she no longer even knew what hunger was. She had also been let down by so many health professionals giving her bad advice that she didn't trust mine.

I finally asked her to tell me what she normally did when she had cravings. She motioned me to follow her into her kitchen, where she opened a drawer and showed me her stockpile of Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Baby Ruth bars. I was completely humbled. I realized that since I don't have PCOS myself, I had no way of relating at all to the women who had the syndrome who I wanted to help.

I told her to do her best to follow my meal plan, and if the cravings got to be really bad, to have a candy bar.

The good news was…she never once needed a candy bar.

Lesson two for ME was…now that we'd eliminated the cravings, I was working with a completely blank slate, with a person who really had never had an opportunity to learn what foods she liked and didn't like, or what hunger and fullness really were. She had been at the mercy of cravings for years.

We had to start with a structured meal plan in order to learn what many of us learn as children. I literally had to put foods on the list for her to commit to preparing and trying. Gradually, she started to understand what hunger and fullness was, and a good chunk of the time, she was able to use some intuitive eating skills.

But the story doesn't end, even THERE!

As the layers of disordered eating peeled off, and food became less of a priority, my client now had to deal with the reality that she now had quite a bit of free time on her hands that once belonged to food procurement. She had to learn to deal with that time in ways other than boredom eating, or eating in response to emotions she was becoming aware of.

Something else that I've learned is that there are times when intuitive eating can be the primary tool a woman with PCOS uses, and there are times when it simply won't work. You may need to be a little bit more structured when you are under stress, when you've got a cold, haven't slept well, are pregnant, etc. When you are insulin resistant, and you're increasing activity and decreasing food intake, you may have times when you feel very hungry, to a degree that doesn't match what you observe about your routine. It can feel scary, and it can be tempting to binge. You may need to gently back yourself out of that corner with some simple structure.

Each one of you has a different story, a different PCOS presentation, a different hormone function, a different brain, and a different response to food. The most important thing you can look for in a dietitian, is not one who is going to tell you that you need to be an intuitive eater, or a structured eater, but one who empowers you to discover who YOU are and to help you design a lifestyle that accommodates what you need to do in order to maximize your potential.

Our inCYST dietitians are all trained to help you map out this path of discovery. If you've tried the"all or nothing" approach to restoring eating sanity, and no way seems to work well, consider engaging the help of someone who understands that you are unique. Our referral page is getting longer as professionals complete the training. Be sure to check in the next few weeks as I add names and contact information for options that might work for you.

Today is National Splurge Day, a concept I absolutely love. While I believe in adhering to schedules and having as much consistency in our lives as possible (it eases stress, creates predictability, and soothes the PCOS brain), I think there’s not only space for splurging in our lives, but a mental health necessity for it as well. Splurging is a verb defined as: 1. To indulge in an extravagant expense or luxury. 2. To be showy or ostentatious. 3. To spend extravagantly or wastefully. Personal definitions of what constitutes a splurge may vary widely. If you’ve got an Oprah-sized budget, maybe nothing in the world qualifies as a splurge anymore. If you’re pretty prosperous, it might mean flying first class everywhere you go, even though business class is more than adequate. And if you’re kind of average, it might mean buying berries when apples are the most fiscally prudent fruit choice, or springing for tickets to the play-off games for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For some, splurging can be a dangerous lifestyle – they buy whatever they want, whenever they want. They don’t worry about saving for the future, or how bad their credit card debt might be. They indulge all the time. Not only are there financial risks to this approach, there are the risks of burning out, of having the splurge lose the quality of the splurge, and becoming mundane and unsatisfying. Don’t you appreciate your $5 latte a whole lot more when it’s a payday treat instead of an everyday indulgence? On the flip side, we have the under-splurgers. They’re so frugal, you can hear the pennies squealing as they pinch them ever-tighter. They risk food poisoning on a regular basis because they don’t want to waste anything that’s looking or smelling a little questionable. They wear their clothes far past the point of fashionability, and into a state of disrepair, even when they can afford to replace them. Or they can’t imagine ever spending THAT kind of money on themselves, for a treat. Even the idea of eating a meal outside the home may seem to reek of over-indulgence. I find that a lot of us are feeling stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed most of the time. We don’t take time for rest and relaxation. We don’t allow ourselves enough time to get to place from place in peace, or to plan for and cook homemade meals. We end up engaging in minor indulgences on a daily basis, or even multiple times a day. No time to check e-mail at home? No problem, get a data plan for your phone. No time to make coffee in the morning? No problem, grab a cup at your favorite gourmet coffee place. No time to stop by the store and try on a shirt? No problem, pay $13.50 in shipping charges – both ways if it doesn’t work out. We don’t think of these things as indulgences, but they are. They’re indulgences in the wrong way, indulgences that have become necessities. We think we can’t exist without them. But they degrade the true meaning of indulgence, which is to treat yourself or someone else to something memorable, special, desirable, and pampering or self-nurturing. I think we can’t get enough self-nurturing. It doesn’t have to come in the form of money we spend, although that’s one way to get it. And I don’t think we have to be wasteful with our money to define it as a splurge. We can be prudent, yet achieve great satisfaction. That being said, if you want to do something wasteful on this National Splurge Day, go for it. Maybe it means you actually get enough sleep, for once (and wasted time you could have used for housework – hmph!). Maybe it means that you take yourself out to lunch, instead of skipping it altogether. Maybe you treat yourself to fresh cut flowers, just because you can. Those would all be great splurges that affirm that you like having fun, you like beauty and pleasure, and you like yourself enough to practice a little shameless splurging. It’s a great way to say, “I’m worth it, and I deserve it,” and when you give yourself those messages in an external way, you reinforce them internally as well. 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.

I am super excited to share a brand-new book about PCOS with our readers and fans, it is hot off the presses, today! The name of the book is The PCOS Diet Plan: A Natural Approach to Health for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, by Hillary Wright, MEd, RD.

There are two reasons this book is so special:

1. It is written by a dietitian.
2. Hillary Wright, this dietitian, actually works in a fertility practice, Boston IVF. Infertility doctors and dietitians rarely work in the same place, and it is wonderful to see this team working together on behalf of their patients.

Hillary has also experienced infertility herself, so she has some personal experience with the emotional aspect of what many of her readers have gone through.

I told Hillary, as soon as I got the book, I immediately opened to the omega-3 section to see what she had written. And, seeing that it was primarily consistent with what our own network providers teach, I felt encouraged that the rest of the book would be valuable.

And I wasn't disappointed.

Hillary has a very readable style. I could practically envision her in a session, presenting the hard science, then stopping, taking a breath, noticing her client's hesitation, and gently nudging that client into not just knowing the science, but understanding why they needed to act on it. It's not so much that the science she presents is new, but she has a great cadence to her writing style, as if she wants to be absolutely sure this book is not written for women with PCOS, but personally for you. As if she genuinely wants to know you're going to do something with the information she is taking the time to explain to you.

It is not condescending at all, however. It is clearly the voice of someone who has worked with many, many, many women with PCOS, and she knows exactly where in the conversation they are likely to take the breath and start to launch on the reasons why the information is not going to work or why they don't want to try it. And she gently calls each and every one of them on their stuff, encouraging them to be empowered, rather than held captive, by their diagnosis.

Hillary is clearly a professional who understands what you're going through, and who acknowledges the disappointment, fear, skepticism, and trust issues you may have with your body, nutrition, and nutrition professionals. But she'd rather show you the way out of that darkness than encourage you to wallow in it.

For those of you who want meal plans, food options, etc., the examples are plentiful. You really should have no issue with the nuts and bolts of your diet if you read this book with good attentin.

Before you spend money on a PCOS consultation of any kind, invest in this book and take the time to read it cover to cover. It will prepare you well for the next step and give you a more concrete basis on which to structure your conversation with anyone you pay to help you with your diagnosis.

If you're a dietitian and you do not fully specialize in PCOS, this book is a great one to refer your clients to or to keep in your lending library to provide the information you may not have on the tip of your tongue during a counseling conversation.

If this book goes into its second edition, and I really hope it does, I'd love to see a little bit more information on a few topics: (1) eating disorders, (2) what to do if you're lean with PCOS, and (3) supplements. Those are all areas that are hotly discussed on our fan page, are some of the most common searches bringing traffic to our blog, and clearly not well researched or written about. If you're looking for information in these areas, you may not find the book to feel complete…to offer more information in these areas would only add to its value.

This book is available in both a paperback edition and a Kindle edition that I've linked to here for your convenience.

Thank you, Hillary, for taking the time to write this book. You are surely helping many women feel as though PCOS is something they can live with and have a productive, fulfilling, life.

One of the most frequent questions I have gotten over the years, is whether or not a person should eat 3 square meals a day, or whether they should break that into 5 or 6 small meals.

The answer is…it depends.

If you are asking if I think you should make room in your diet for the top 10 foods people are likely to think of when they hear the word,"snack," the answer is no.

Unfortunately, we've let the food industry define"snack" for us, and if you look at the average snack machine in the break room, airport, or hotel, it is more likely to contain Pop Tarts, candy bars, and corn chips than it is apples, string cheese, or anything containing protein.

If you are asking if you should add more eating moments to your day without making your normal meals smaller…the answer is no. This is one of the issues I see with people switching to more meals. Their definition of meal is preset, and the switch adds unnecessary calories. If you want to eat more meals, each meal needs to be smaller so that the total adds up to be the same at day's end.

One of the biggest issues with PCOS is that large amounts of calories, especially when they are carbohydrate calories, are not handled well by the hormones that digest and absorb those calories. It may be easier for your body to process the food you eat if you do eat smaller amounts of food, more frequently.

All of your"eating incidents" should include some type of protein and a healthy fat. I almost don't like to use the words"meals" and"snacks", because each one conjures up images of what is and is not ok for each. I encourage you to redefine, and to eat what works best for you. When we use those words, it is almost as if one kind of eating is when we're doing healthy,"good" stuff, and the other is when we try to sneak in the other stuff. Every time you eat is an opportunity to be good to yourself, so be sure you choose wisely.

If an energy bar is an easier breakfast for you than a traditional breakfast, then do it!

If a half sandwich before bedtime is more reasonable than something that feels like a sweet and may trigger binge eating, then do it!

It can be challenging to figure out what plan works best for you. Here are some scenarios that would tell you a smaller, more frequent eating pattern might work better for you:

--you wake up not feeling hungry. If you didn't binge the night before, this may mean your blood sugar bottomed out overnight and your stress hormones released sugar to compensate while you were sleeping. A high protein meal/snack shortly before bed might help prevent this from happening.

--you eat a healthy meal, and just as you're finishing up, you start to feel ravenous. In this case, your blood sugar levels are telling you there was a dip prior to dinner, and the food you just ate has not had a chance to fix the problem. The answer is not to eat more food in the moment (as it is tempting to do), but to add a protein/carb combination a few hours before dinner to stablize your blood sugar.

--you participate in physical activity. You're simply going to need more food, more often, since you are using more energy.

--your schedule is not 9 to 5. If you work hours that interfere with our culturally standard mealtimes, you may do better with smaller meals that do not interfere with sleep. This is a situation where prepackaged foods that you can throw in a backpack or briefcase could be the answer.

A PCOS-trained dietitian can help you to analyze your food preferences, your lifestyle, and your own personal blood glucose response to certain types of foods. Whatever approach you determine is best for you. As I said, every time you eat is an opportunity to treat yourself well. Don't miss out!

Not long ago a woman with PCOS handed me a diet diary for analysis. She had eaten a burger without the bun and a sweetened ice tea for breakfast. Lunch didn't happen until 2 pm, and it was a brownie with ice cream. And finally, she recorded a bowl of cereal for dinner.

One of the things that jumped out at me was that there were no fruits or vegetables in her meal plan. When I asked her about it…she told me she was avoiding carbs!

Fruits have somehow gotten a bad rap because of their carbohydrate content. But they're not the culprit in an unhealthy diet. In fact, fruits are very high in antioxidants, which can help to repair the damage that life stress and the stress of having a chronic disease can create. In my opinion, you can't afford NOT to have fruit.

I chose oranges this week, because I live in Arizona and I have an orange tree off of my patio. It is the most wonderful treat to wake up, pick a few oranges, and have a glass of fresh squeezed juice. Or, when I need a break in the afternoon, to pick a fresh snack for myself. Nothing tastes better than fruit right from the source. I recently made a great salad vinaigrette using orange juice and olive oil as the base. Even with all these oranges, I'm not making a dent in my supply!

If your diet diary mimicks the one I described above, challenge yourself to try the following. Be sure to have a serving of fruit the size of a tennis ball at each meal, or the total equivalent of 3 servings that size of fruit in the course of a day. Challenge yourself to not eat any sources of refined sugar until you've met your daily quota of fruit. See if, when you focus on fruit, your appetite for other sugars diminishes. And in the process, if changing the kind of sugar you eat doesn't help stabilize your energy levels and help you to feel better.

It’s National Anti-Boredom Month, and I’m thinking about how much of our bad eating habits are triggered by boredom. How often have you sat at home in front of the television, flipping channels, and snacking mindlessly? How about being at work, where you’re trapped in a cubicle you hate, and the only really good reasons to get up are to go to the bathroom, or to go get a snack or a meal? How often do you “need” a snack under these circumstances?

Quite often, we do a semi-decent job of planning ahead for breakfast, maybe even lunch or dinner, but snacks are hazardous territory. And unfortunately, it’s not usually the planned meals that do us in; it’s the random, boredom-based snacking. When you’re bored, it’s a little more complicated than suggested by merely moaning, “I’m bored.” When you’re bored, you’re probably also dealing with at least one of the following:

• Anger about being stuck in a situation you don’t like, or doing a task you don’t want to do, or being with people you don’t necessarily want to be with;

• Feeling trapped/having limited choices;

• Limited mental engagement (you’re under-performing, not challenged enough, or doing something for the millionth time, without thought);

• Fear of being stuck in this sensation of boredom forever;

• Frustration about all of the above.

When all of those things are going on, it’s likely that your brain starts to shut down from the overwhelm. You need soothing. You get a snack. You reach for something carby/fatty/sugary – anything that’s not on your self-determined, approved healthy eating plan. Seriously – have you ever noticed that you’ve just gotta’ have some cold sliced chicken breast, or a cup of low-fat milk? No, it’s much more likely you’re going after chips, salted nuts, chocolate, pastry, cookies, ice cream, or something along those lines. You want a treat, some compensation for your misery. Food is the easiest way to treat yourself. It tastes good. It takes your mind off the other stuff. It gives you something else to focus on.

Next time you’re feeling bored, I suggest the following instead:

• Get off the couch and get outside for a little walk;

• Make a gratitude list, and see how long you stay focused on your boredom;

• Call a friend who’s prone to boredom-based eating (don’t tell me you don’t know anyone!) and ask her to talk you out of it;

• Sneak into the restroom with your cell phone and play a game on it;

• Grab a notepad and start writing with “I am bored because… ” See what happens. Repeat this phrase until the page is full.

Other helpful strategies include:

• Prepare some healthy, balanced snacks in advance, maybe even while you’re feeling bored, and make sure they’re readily accessible in all the places where you’re prone to derailing from your plans.

• Make sure you don’t go too long between meals; you might really be hungry!

• If you just can’t seem to contain your behavior, consult with a mental health practitioner who can help you get to the roots of the behavior.

• Eat enough at your meals; this may mean abandoning the idea of grazing or having five or six small meals a day. What works better for you might actually be three squares a day. You don’t know until you try.

• Make sure your meals consist of a balanced, attractive, and tasty group of foods. That may seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen my patients get frustrated and overdo it on unhealthy snacks, because they’re dying for some carbs, some salt, or a little sweetness.

• If you need help with the food part, hire a dietician who knows something about PCOS.

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.

It was 1975, and my father had a powder blue polyester double-knit “leisure suit,” a weight-loss plan disguised as a plan to single-handedly re-roof our house, and a keen interest in alternative nutrition and well-being. The latter took the form of upside-down eating, in which we had our smallest meal at dinner and our largest meal at breakfast. My friends thought it was very strange that we ate steaks and pork chops for breakfast, along with huge salads.

We were also eating texturized soy protein, roughly ground grains made into coarse earthy breads, spoonfuls of lecithin, mung bean sprouts, and a whole lot of strange things that you could only get out of the bulk food barrels at Elliot’s Natural Foods. We had a copy of “The Whole Earth Catalog” on the coffee table, and there was also a well-worn copy of my dad’s new bible, Adelle Davis’ “Let’s Eat Right to Get Fit.” There was some new thinking going on in this middle-aged straight-laced German guy, and I was curious about it. Extremely curious. I read the books, and ate whatever weird stuff I was supposed to be eating.

Things got even more curious when my father signed the entire family up to learn Transcendental Meditation (TM), which was developed by the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s. Although it started elsewhere, by the 1970s, it had penetrated as far as “The Big Tomato,” my hometown of Sacramento, California. He went to a couple of introductory lectures, and the next thing we knew, all five of us were learning TM! It sure seemed exotic at the time, but it’s a technique I have practiced off on and on for over three decades. It’s so simple, I find it the easiest place to return to when I’m most stressed.

TM is a mantra-based meditation technique that has been scientifically validated for stress reduction, blood pressure reduction and, most recently management of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress in veterans. The National Institute of Health has spent in excess of $20 million validating the benefits of TM. It increases mental clarity, creativity, and overall health, and decreases stress by decreasing the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. When the sympathetic nervous system’s activity decreases, so do adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol levels. Therefore, it is quite effective for stabilizing mood and even controlling appetite, because your appetite tends to go out of control when you’re feeling stressed.

Technically, it must be taught through an authorized trainer (see www.tm.org), but a great deal of introductory information can be gleaned online. I’ve written previously here about the benefits of meditation, and I’d love to introduce you to this technique.

Simply sit quietly and comfortably. This is essential to all forms of meditation. The mantra would be assigned by your teacher, but you can choose a syllable or sound with no inherent meaning (other forms of meditation might focus on a word with a meaning, such as “love” or “peace.”). The act of focusing on the mantra draws your mind out of its normal state of anxiety, chatter, and activity. If your mind drifts, return your attention to the mantra gently and repeatedly, for a period of 20 minutes per day. Results have been verified with as little as eight weeks of consistent daily practice. Optimally, practicing twice a day for twenty minutes each time is the goal, but benefits can be derived from as little as five minutes a day.

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

References:
Dillbeck M.C. and Orme-Johnson D. W. Physiological differences between Transcendental Meditation and rest. American Psychologist 42:879–881, 1987.
Jevning R., et al. The physiology of meditation: a review. A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 16(3):415-24, 1992.
Orme-Johnson D.W. and Walton K. W. All approaches of preventing or reversing effects of stress are not the same. American Journal of Health Promotion 12:297-299, 1998.

I just made some sample breakfast menus for a client. I had not finished making the rest of the day, and she wrote back to share that in just using the breakfast menus, she could tell an immediate difference in her cravings that were positively influencing how she ate the rest of the day.

I thought I would share them to give you all a challenge to try--eat these breakfasts and see how you feel as the day progresses--is your energy level better? Are your carbohydrate cravings less invasive?

I'm not the hugest fan of McDonald's, but since this particular client noted that one of the breakfasts she finds really helps get her off to a good start with less nibbling the rest of the day, is an Egg McMuffin, I added it to illustrate that the choice really isn't so bad. If you use your fats early in the day, in a way that actually decreases fat intake over aa 24 hour period, it may be a judicious move. I actually have the same experience with this meal. It keeps me full. Which is why we discussed how to make the homemade microwave version of the same thing on Whole Wheat English muffins.

Also, I am very intentionally leaving out the calorie, fat, and protein counts. If you use these breakfasts…I want you to focus on how the food tastes, how it feels in your stomach, and how you feel in the hours after you eat. Eating well is not about the calories, fat, and protein. Well…not totally. It has to be tasty if you're actually going to do it!

Hope this helps get you all off to a great start!

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 slices Ezekiel toast
8 ounces skim milk
1 medium apple
1/4 c sliced almonds

2 tbsp peanut butter
2 slices Ezekiel toast
8 ounces skim milk
1 peach

Egg McMuffin
8 ounces skim milk
1 banana

1 cup oatmeal
1/8 c whey protein powder
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 c strawberries
8 oz. skim milk

There are a gazillion possibilities here, I just put four sample meals together to help my client get a grip on portion sizes and potential combinations. Two of these breakfasts use Ezekiel bread becausse she likes it. Oatmeal was another possibility because she travels a lot and can take advantage of the new Starbucks oatmeal option or even carry her own packets and mixins'.

I'm betting many of the foods you enjoy aren't so bad after all, and that you can include them if you know how. Often times when you move a food from the"bad" to"perfectly fine" column, the temptation to binge on them is removed. And many times, with PCOS, it's the bingeing and the quantity, not the food itself, that is the problem.

Most women I work with have lost confidence in food and are afraid to eat many foods that can benefit them. That is how a nutrition consultation can help you--if you use it wisely. Rather than looking to someone else to do all the work, make a list of your favorite foods, foods you want to eat but are afraid to, foods you are feeling are"bad" or"not an option" and ask, not IF, but HOW they can be included in your plan.

Let an inCYST provider help you design your own program! We're just waiting for you to ask so that we can be part of your success.