My New Supplement: Garcinia Cambogia

trying to lose weight with pros can be really difficult and frustrating at times, so i’ve been doing some research on what can help me spark a little weight loss and i came around a fruit called garcinia cambogia. Dr. oz, who i follow when it comes to health advice, had a segment on this fruit and the health benefits of it.

The fruit extract helps inhibit fat loss while retaining muscle without any extra work at the gym. the extract is called hydroxycitric acid (HCA) and it does two things: suppress your appetite and block fat from being made.

It blocks fat by inhibiting the enzyme Citrate lyase, halting the fat making process and stopping the bad cholesterol [LDL] from being made as well.

HCA suppresses your appetite by creating more serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain. many people hear of serotonin when talking about people who are depressed — those people have low levels of serotonin and doctors usually prescribe something that will enhance levels of serotonin. though you may not be depressed, low levels of serotonin also leads to emotional eating, something i am extremely guilty of and has been a problem my whole life. whenever i get stressed out or upset, i turn to food and binge. By increasing serotonin levels, HCA improves your mood and stops you from reacting to stressful situations with food.

I know, something this good must cost a fortune because its too good to be true, however, its not that expensive at all [depending on where you buy it of course]. since garcinia cambogia is so abundant and simply comes from a fruit, its extract can be found for a good price, but beware of certain vitamin stores who will try and charge you $60 for the same product you could get for $15 at a walmart or cvs.

I started taking my supplement about 4 days ago, and im going to give it two weeks to start looking for results, as i know it takes time to get into your system and start working, but so far i can say that my appetite is definitely under much better control, and having 3 midterms coming up on thursday, i am very stressed but have not once turned to food as i usually would have. my exercise and diet has not been as good as it should be so going into week two, im going to work really hard to eat right and get in a good workout 5x a week to really get the best results possible

 

source/more info: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/garcinia-cambogia-hca

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The Challenge begins: September 1, 2013

so i did as i said i would and took my measurements today and came in at a whopping 165lbs..the heaviest I’ve been since i was diagnosed with pcos. i really need to start getting myself back on track and keeping myself motivated so i can be happy with the way i look again. when i was diagnosed with pcos, i was 138 pounds..so ive come a long ways up, and i know its going to take a long time to get back down.

since i know its going to be hard, instead of trying to lose 2 lbs a week, ill be doing 1lb a week, just so i stay on track and have an easier time reaching my goals. though i am embarrassed by them, i will be uploading progress pictures on the first of every month to see what progress i have made.

this being said, by october 1st, i plan to be at the bare minimum 4 pounds less putting me at 161. i know i can push myself to lose more in one month, but thats my goal for now, but I’m going to do what i can to crush it and lose even more.

id say i was off to a good start today, as i went hiking for 5 hours on a mountain in massachusetts [blog post with pics to come]. if i can stay this active and get a hold of good eating habits, i should be losing weight and feeling better in no time.

doing the 1 pound a week calculation, if i stick with it and work hard, by new years i should be down at least 16.5 lbs, putting me at 148.5, which would be spectacular. though my plan is to return to my original weight of 138, having an end of the year goal of 148.5 is a great way to start and ill work from there

CHALLENGE TIME: Bring in the New Year Right

ive been back at school and working on living a healthier lifestyle for about a week now, and i think im starting to get the hang of it, so what better to do than challenge myself??

A couple days ago, i realized, wow, there’s only 4 months left til the new year, and just yesterday felt like 2012. So im challenging myself, and anyone else who is willing to join to do a 4 month challenge from september 1st to january 1st with updates on the first of every month [weight, measurements, and progress pictures]. if i get enough people, we can put together a facebook group for some daily/weekly encouragement/updates for each other and keep everyone motivated.

So on september 1st, i will be posting my current measurements and my goal for the end of the year. ill be taking a picture for my start day and when october rolls around, ill post my september with my october to see if ive made progress. while it is nice to have a weight loss goal, its not necessary. its more about how youre treating your body and how much better you’ll feel after the 4 months of treating it right!

hopefully i can get more people to join me, whether you have pcos or not, want to lose weight or just maintain a healthy lifestyle, everyone should try to treat their body right, so comment below and let me know who’s with me!!!!

New Purchase – Jillian Michaels

when i first got pcos 3 years ago, i tried to learn more about it and came upon Jillian Michaels, who i had heard, read, and seen on tv before. I had seen her so many times and had no clue she had pcos and didnt always have a ripped body. she too is human and struggled with her weight and pcos symptoms before she decided to take control of her life and get healthy.

as she had already been a role model to me, naturally when i saw her book, master your metabolism, i picked it right up from the library and got started on reading it. though i was determined, i never read more than the first couple of chapters [no matter how many times i checked it out of the library..which was easily ten times] , because im not really into reading and i have a very busy lifestyle. however, i just ordered the book, so i figure, since i spent my money on it, im bound to read it. the parts that i did read already were really helpful and im hoping the rest of the book will be the same.

along with the book, my dad also found me the jillian michaels 30 day shred workout dvd which im pretty pumped about. i brought it to school with me, but i realized i dont have a dvd player, so im going to have to figure out some other way to utilize it.

Jillian Michaels is a true role model and i hope to be able to overcome my pcos and be strong like her one day.

A new start

ive taken some time to reevaluate my life and decide what’s really important..my health. for the past few months ive been talking about a lifestyle change and losing weight with no success because i was all talk and no action. i would say one thing and hold onto it for a few days, but then slip into old, bad habits, something that must come to an end.

i recently had my check up with my gyno and i talked to her about my weight gain and what else i can do to help reverse that and what else to do to set up a healthy life style. she mentioned the obvious healthy eating and regular exercise, but she also stressed the importance of the glycemic index as well as the insulin resistance which accompanies pcos. foods that are high in carbs and sugar will no doubt lead to weight gain in women with pcos which is why it is detrimental that we stay away from them. being back at school, im trying to workout some way to have low carb meals every day, but its still a work in process.

Something else ive been reading about is eating gluten free, something i am willing and want to do, and have had a successful start. basically, if you’re eating gluten, it is most likely a highly processed food which should not be eaten. if you’re truly eating healthy, you dont have to worry about gluten because whole foods like fruits and vegetables dont have gluten in them. i went grocery shopping and have found some snacks that are gluten free and delicious. By staying gluten free, ill be able to stay away from processed carbs, which is one of the main reasons why i have gained weight.

i know this is a lot for one post, but as it is my first full day on campus, i decided it was important to start off the school year right and i went for a jog around campus. i used my nike app to track my run and it came up to about 4.5 miles [i did not run the whole thing, i was just figuring out a good running path]. im working on setting up a goal for the end of the semester to work on my running time and to push me to work harder.

as for logging my food intake, i started new programs on both lose it and my fitness pal, and have been logging accurately and plan to continue to do so to help me track my carb and sugar intake as well as my calories consumed and burned. if anyone has these apps let me know so i can add you!!

im really looking forward to finally sticking with a plan, not just to lose weight, but to create a permanent healthy lifestyle and reverse my pcos symptoms

June 2, 2013

I’m really happy with myself for how well I treated my body today. I ate well, getting plenty of fruits, veges, and protein, and worked out twice!! I did insanity in the morning before work and then after work I did some cardio and took a class called xtreme training at the gym..which was extremely difficult but so worth it. I ended up biting over 1300 calories for the day, something I’ve never done before.
I’ve been weighing myself often as my weight keeps fluctuating, but I weighed myself today and I’m back down to 157!! if I can keep this pattern going I’ll hopefully reach my goal..just 17 pounds left. It won’t be easy, but I’m gunna do it!

Weigh in #4 [week 6]

i know i havent been keeping up with my weigh ins, but i was very busy at school and getting ready for finals. however, now that i am home, i intend to weigh myself every thursday as planned, starting with today

when i stepped on the scale, i read 157.2 and it felt amazing to finally be out of the 160s. i know i was not on track much during april and the beginning of may as its very difficult to do while at school, but i definitely think my detox sparked my system a little and contributed to me starting to lose weight

as of right now, i am a total of 6.2 pounds down, getting closer to my goal of being healthy, fit, and pcos free.

im confident these next weeks will be just as successful

“Self-Monitoring Body Weight and Food Intake Regularly”

the title of this post is one of the subheadings in Karen Roush’s book, and i think it’s important enough to discuss, as it has given me success in the past.

in her book, she says:

“studies show that checking your weight regularly and keeping records of food intake promotes long-term success in weight control. when you keep a record of what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it, eating becomes a conscious, thought-out process. You pay attention to your food intake and the decisions you make about food.”

on my blog, i have a food journal category  where i normally post my daily meals as well as my exercise [when im not detoxing]. this helps me keep track of what i eat, and also puts a little pressure on me to eat better since im sharing with the whole world what i ate for the day.

years ago, i had a different blog, with the same purpose of weight loss, but i had not yet been diagnosed with PCOS. the blog and recording what i ate, as well as support from the blogging community ultimately helped me reach my weight loss goal. Now that things are a little different, i decided to start a new blog, tracking my weight loss as well as my PCOS symptoms.

As well as this blog, i also have an app on my phone called Loseit! which ive had for years [and used back in the day when i had my other blog]. its a free app that calculates how many calories you should consume a day depending on your height, weight, gender, how much weight you want to lose, and how fast. each day you are supposed to record your meals [it counts up your calories as well as your nutrition info], as well as your exercise. it helps keep you on track, and helps you set goals that are within reach.

even if you dont have a phone with app access, they also have a website where you can sign up for free [loseit.com] with the same benefits as the app. i highly recommend checking this app out, or any other calorie counting app, as they will keep track of your caloric intake, your weight along with your weight loss progress, your nutrition information, and how many calories you burn during exercise.

having any source of organization and recording when trying to lose weight is most beneficial.

weigh in #3

well im not gunna say im surprised that i stepped on the scale this morning and gained weight instead of losing it. my weekends really set me up for failure and im going to try and fix that this weekend, being healthy all of the time instead of just during the week.

while i am disappointed in myself for not being more motivated and in control, im not going to get discouraged because it was only a 0.2 lb increase, and it could have been a lot worse. im still down from what i started at and im going to move forward which is whats important

i had a really successful day yesterday and was completely satisfied when i went to bed at night, a goal i am going to set for myself every day. eating poorly and not getting enough exercise is not worth the disappointment i feel at the end of the day..as people say, “food doesnt taste as good as skinny feels”

Weigh in #2

i have a goal of losing about 1.5 pounds a week, but unfortunately, for week 2, my weight has stayed the same. i had a feeling i wasnt making any progress no matter how much i worked out or ate right, but i did a lot of research as to why.

i had been eating healthy, yes, but i found that there are many foods people with pcos should not be eating, including, sweets, soft/sports drinks, refined carbs, and processed grains. though i dont consume many of them anyway, i intend to eat none of them now that i am more aware that they could be stopping me from losing weight and reaching my ultimate goal.

as for exercise, i tended to do cardio for long periods of time at a steady pace, such as a road run or using the cardio equipment at the gym. while i was burning calories, it really wasnt helping me rid of any fat because slow paced steady cardio is in fact not good for you. so now im starting to do intervals when i do cardio, as it has been proven to get rid of fat much more efficiently.

though this week was not a success, i look forward to seeing better results next week and i will not be giving up!