Adventures of the Killer Elliptical.
So today I finally figured out how to get the machine to accurately count my calories burned and give me an accurate resistance. I had to enter my weight. No brainer right? So I do that, and as I do I feel the resistance on the machine getting a lot more...resisty. At 40 resistance I was sweating so hard in less than 2 minutes that sweat was literally forming as fast as I could wipe it away, and I had to wipe it away in order to see. Now that I was finally playing fair and not pretending to weigh 150lbs the machine told me that I was burning between (depending on my strides per minute at the moment it was calculating) between 1150 and 1510 calories an hour! Woot, a real reading, finally. Still, um back to the killer thing? I finished my first 30 minutes at the right settings, still at 40 resistance and was really incredibly tired, like wiped out. I did my circuit, the whole thing, and when I got back on the elliptical my legs felt like lead. I did 10 more minutes and called it a day. So at 40 minutes and 40 resistance my calories burned on the elliptical today were 1033. Add in the 400 or so more I burn on the circuit and you get 1433. I can not be sad about that. Its really motivating to see how many calories I burn a day. I don't count the calories I eat so I'm not really tempted to eat a little more or have something I shouldn't because I have the "room" or something. It's just nice to see. I can bait myself on.
Now I received a bunch of comments regarding PCOS and its effects on me (and all of you who have it), and I realized that I don't talk about it much. Maybe I don't talk about it enough. I really feel as though I shouldn't because despite the fact that it does play a heavy hand in my weight loss I don't want to use it as an excuse for why I can't lose weight (and please do not think I am saying that about anyone else!). This is just my experience and I can not speak for everyone else, but I'm not really having trouble getting the weight off. When I do have trouble it's because I make bad decisions (so far). It does affect me though. For example, refined sugars slow my weight loss down a lot. I once had a period for over 18 months (yes, I have seen a Dr, and I have been checked for damage and I am fine. ) that finally stopped and normalized with a low carb diet. Weight Watchers is working for me because a) its actually low gi when done the right way. b) I'm actually getting off of my butt this time (which vastly and immediately improves insulin sensitivity). and c) I have real support.
The other reason I don't really talk about it is because I had some very bad experiences with doctors and PCOS and now I have this soapbox filled with anger and that really isn't what I want this blog to radiate. It's really hard to rationally talk about experiences that still deeply affect you. For example, after my period finally stopped with low carb dieting - it normalized and came back. The first 6 or 7 times it came I was so afraid it wasn't going to go away that I cried. I still feel a little unnerved when it gets here to this day. I am healing though, and I figure that I'll be able to talk about everything little by little.
The comments did remind me that PCOS can mess with your emotions and moods, and even up your anxiety, along with hurting your weight loss efforts though. It's a vicious cycle! Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome is "is the most common endocrine disorder of women". Insulin is a hormone, and in excess it stores fat. Most women who have pcos also have insulin resistance, meaning they are over producing insulin. Fat stores estrogen (I may be misspeaking here, it may be that fat creates estrogen, which is just as bad) which is then also released as we lose weight. That estrogen not only makes it harder to lose weight, it also seriously unbalances your moods/feelings/emotions etc., also making it harder to lose weight. Pcos can cause a myriad of issues from depression and anxiety to infertility and heart disease. It is a serious subject and can not possibly be defined by one case, experience or definition! If you think you have PCOS, talk to your doctor!
For more on PCOS from people much more in the know than I am: Go Here.
Anyway, I hope that wasn't too much of a segue away from my normal posts talking about my activity and food for the day! I had a great food day, but I haven't eaten enough! I think again that it's because I am so hot! My food was so great though that I only need 1 more serving of fruits or veggies to make my goal!
Today:
2 servings inside out egg roll: 3
1 banana: 2
1 100 calorie snack pack: 1
1 grilled chicken sand: 5
w/ bbq: 1
1 medium salad: 1
1 serving ff ranch: 1
1 veggie burger: 2
1 serving buffalo chicken mac and cheese (revised, wont be the last time, working on getting those points down low enough to post this): 11
1 orange: 1
1 wrap: 2
1 serving avocado: 2
1 egg: 2
1 serving cheese: 3
1 serving shredded potato: 1
1 veggie burger: 2
1 serving chocolate: 4
41/41 +2/35
Water Weight
8 years ago
7 comments:
Keep up those killer workouts! They'll get the scale moving for you for certain...
WooHooo How do you manage to workout so much! I feel tired just reading about it :) Yeah I have a long way to go.
PCOS... I've never considered it nor did my doctors. But I do have insulin resistance and my periods are a whole strange chapter. I should see my doctor about this. Thank you for a great post.
You go girl! Thats a lot of calories in a hour! You Rock!
As for PCOS I was diagnosed with it 2 years ago, I managed to lose enough weight to have my last child 5 months ago (which was a surprise because as soon as I lost the weight I started ovulating TMI i know)!
When you have a disorder--be it PCOS, or a heart condition, or even migraines you need to take it all into account when you're trying to loose weight.
I know EXACTLY what you mean you say that you can't use PCOS as an excuse--because I've done the same thing. However it IS the elephant in my room so I address it and then move on.
Ironically when your on infertility drugs they WANT your estrogen to go up--thus you end up gaining weight while on them...its a lot of fun this PCOS thing!
***Talk about a seguay***
FInally if you get a chance can you weigh in on my entry for today please.
Thanks.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this about PCOS. I have a loved one in my family, that has been diagnosed with PCOS, and is discouraged and convinced that she just cannot lose weight.
I will gently point her to your blog... I don't know if she is ready yet or not, to really hear it, but I would love for her to have HOPE that she can do it too, like you. She is dear to me, but it would mean more to her coming from someone with her same condition.
Thank you!
Loretta
=^..^=
Wow, I cannot imagine a period that lasted 18 months. You are a saint for dealing with that. (Not that you had much choice, huh?)
As for your question about having a regular period - yes, finally, I have a completely regular cycle.
Losing the 60 lbs combined with getting on birth control (I am on Yazmin) has finally fixed my period. I had never been regular - ever. And after I started losing the weight, I didn't have a period for six months straight. So when the gyn put me on the BC, the period I had lasted for 26 days. My body had to get rid of all that "stuff" that was built up in my uterus for six months of no bleeding. They did an ultrasound on me, and you would not believe how thick the lining of my uterus was.
Saying that, after about 10 months of the BC, I now know exactly what day my period is coming. Always on the second Thursday of the month, and for a while it was lasting five days, and the past few months it has been only three days!!!
I never in a million years would have believed that I would have a regular, three day period. It's wonderful.
That was a lot of intimate information to share, and I apologize to any of your male readers!
Thanks everyone!
River: Sometimes I don't workout so often, but the thing that keeps me coming back is that I always always lose more weight when I am working out regularly! You totally should see your doctor about PCOS but you should educate yourself a bit about the syndrome before you go. A lot of doctors are still not quite so in the know about PCOS and some of them don't believe it exists. Yeah. If you believe you have it, or that you aren't being checked out or taken seriously get a second opinion.
Tiff: I was TTC for over a year with my husband before I gave up. I'm kind of grateful in a way because had I been able to just have my kids then I don't know that I ever would have faced this weight. It isn't the only reason to do it, but it was my starting fire! I was diagnosed at 16 (but had symptoms as early as 13), over ten years ago. It is heartening to hear that you started ovulating with weight loss!
Betty: You are exactly right. It is the elephant in the room. Its the thing we are trying to work with and the thing we are trying to beat! I hope I did not sound like I was making light of pcos in regards to weight loss- I wasn't. I just want women to fight it and not give up.
Also, I really hope I do not end up needing fert drugs!
Retta: I was diagnosed when I was 16. It took me years to put some things together and figure out what I needed to do. I also needed to stop being so angry about it and get to actually DOING something. Pcos effects so many parts of a woman's life. Just having it can breed so much dark in your heart, and when people and even doctors are clueless about so much of what it entails it can leave you feeling alone and hopeless. I don't mean to sound dramatic! Your loved one will hopefully open up to you and talk about it! If she wants to talk to me she can email me at Lyssiana@gmail.com privately.
Sarah: Actually to be honest (and this is actually so hard, as I said, I have so much anger and negative emotion left from this time in my life) I might have had a choice. I was diagnosed at 16 after having my period for 3 weeks. Ironicly it ended the day I went in to the office. She recommended I go on hbc to control the symptoms and regulate the period, but I was young and she wanted my primary care physician to prescribe them. The endocrinolgist (who my pcp referred me to) I was seeing at the time told me he would ONLY prescribe hbc (for acne) as a reward for losing weight (AFTER telling me that I would NEVER lose weight on my own, but that if I didnt I would DIE. Great for a 16 year old right?) Right. So a few years later I got a period that never ended and I was so scared and uneducated and embarrased about what was wrong with me that I never went to see a doctor. It was only AFTER low carb worked that I started doing my homework and reading that I began to put the pieces together.
Woo! I am on ocella, the generic for yazmin, and I love it! My skin has cleared for the first time in my WHOLE life, and I have a regular period!
Ha, it isn't too intimate! I think that is what makes blogs so charming and helpful, honesty! We say things here that would be weird or even hurt openly. :) Thanks for sharing with me.
WOW! That got long!
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