Life in Southeast Alaska

Found a Good Doctor & PCOS

I've never been good about visiting the doctor, never really found one I liked I guess.  Well, I found a naturopathic doctor and she is great!  My friend and I went to a women's health forum where they talked about focusing on being healthy at whatever weight you are at.  A thin person can be unhealthy, and an overweight person could be perfectly healthy.  Hmmm...never really thought about that.  The message has always been if you are overweight, you are automatically unhealthy. 

So I decided to go to a doctor and have my blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar checked to see where I stand (I weigh about twice what I should).  On my first visit, we talked about things I wanted to do to make myself healthier - start exercising and learn more about nutrition to be able to feed us better meals.  She suggested I follow a diet by my blood type - Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type.  My type is A-.  A's should basically be vegetarians according to the book - adding eggs, fish and poultry.  She said that I should not have anything from cows.  Wow - do you realize how much you eat that comes from a cow?  We have our moose meat, so she said that is a good, lean, clean source of protein.  But I would need to quit milk, cheese, & butter.  That is a BIG change for me, but at this point, I am willing to try it.  To start, I am avoiding the foods on the Avoid list.  A few things have been quite challenging to eliminate or find substitutes for:  potatoes, white rice, wheat, tomatoes, vinegar, mayonnaise.  It has been two weeks now, so I have been getting more comfortable with the new eating habits and we have been trying some new foods, which is good.

I have commited to exercise every day now.  I either walk for 3 miles or workout to a video for 20 minutes.  I ordered the Biggest Loser Workout and it showed up last week.  It is great!  There are different levels and the CD is programmable so you can play whatever sections you want to.  It starts off alternating days of cardio and days with hand weights.  Today was day 5, so far, so good.

I went for my second doctor visit last Wednesday to go over blood test results.  She found that my hormones are out of balance, and after talking to me about other symptoms, believes I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).  Patients have different sets of symptoms and mine are included.  I've since done some reading and found out that it is likely genetic, that there is no cure, but it can be treated.  This could be why I've had trouble with my weight since I was 13.  So I am hopeful that through treatment I will have better success getting to a healthy weight.  This will reduce my risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer from PCOS. 

Right now I am taking some hormones to see if that will get them balanced, and incorporating an anti-estrogenic diet into what I'm already doing.  This is to reduce the amount of estrogen coming into my body from the foods I eat.  Some of the diet I have already accomplished through the blood type diet, so there is just a little tweaking to do.  One of the main things is not to eat commercial chicken because of the hormones they are treated with - organic is okay though.  I should increase vegetables, whole grains, eggs, garlic, onions, and beans.  I should eliminate sugar, white flour and all refined foods.  There is also a smoothie to have a couple times a week that includes kelp, lecithin, yeast, eggs, fruit and yogurt - to help my body get rid of excess estrogen.  She also suggested I take vitamins - which I haven't been.  C, B complex and chromium.

I'm anxious to see how these changes help - my next visit is in a couple months.  I already have alot more energy - I'm sure this is from the exercise.  Rod says he has noticed a big change in my attitude also.  I'm down 12 pounds as well, which is fantastic!  I will be weighing myself only once a month so I don't get hung up on what the scale says.  I just need to concentrate on exercising every day and eating good. 

Untitled Comment

5:42 PM, Saturday, November 11, 2006 .. Posted by j706nancyr

My dh had started eating for his blood type earlier this year. I was reading his booklet...boy it sounds hard having to give up all those things. He did it mostly, but it is hard for him since my son and I eat the other things.
Good luck with everything!
12 lbs...that's great!
Nancy