Happy 1 year Anniversary...to me!

Today is a really big anniversary for me! I met up with my Doctor one year ago today to go over all my test results and to do an ultrasound. I was given the news that I was insulin resistant and that I have what is called PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). A year ago today is the day I got my life back.

I'll take you back in time a little to give you some background on my story so that you understand a little more of why I do what I do everyday to get my life back. This is a really long post so hopefully I don't bore everyone to death!

My husband and I really wanted to start a family when we got married 14 years ago. Little did we know our journey to have kids would be a rocky road. In 7 years I was pregnant 6 times and out of those 6 pregnancies we have 2 beautiful daughters who I am very thankful that I have in my life. In 2007 when my youngest miracle was 18 months old I decided it was time to get "Jena" back. Pregnancy really took a toll on my body and I found myself at 280+ pounds and unable to do things I wanted to do with my family because of my size.

Growing up I was always athletic, I loved sports and was born to run. When I got married and tried starting a family this part of me got packed up in a box somewhere and collected dust. Well, in 2007 I went and found that part of me, dusted it off and started working my butt off. My husband bought me a jogging stroller and I put my 5 year old and my 18 month old in it everyday and ran to the school to drop my oldest off, and then would turn around and head home. It was 1 mile each way and I would do this twice a day. I also decided that I would start running half marathons and other races to keep myself motivated. I ran the Riverton half 2 times, the St. George half and the Bear lake half along with a lot of other races, 5k's 10k's, 15ks and relays. I joined a running group at Salt Lake Running Company and ran with them every Saturday morning in Sugar House. To this day I am happy to say that these runners are some of my dearest friends and biggest supporters.

Next I started walking with friends in the evening and working with a friend who is a personal trainer. I would slowly lose, but it would just creep back on but I kept on going. After that friend moved I started working with another friend who is a personal trainer and the same thing would happen. I would lose weight, dropping big numbers from eating right and working my tail off, but then it would just creep back on again. I was determined to keep going and so 2 times a week I would plan workouts for friends and I to do in the park and at the church. Also at this time I had a friend tell me about a program called "Boot Camp" run by an awesome personal trainer named Marcus. I signed up and for 9 months and I attended his class 5 times a week at 5:30 am. He worked with me on my training and my eating and I was still going up and down with my weight for no apparent reason. Then I hit a huge road block, my feet felt like they were broken. It hurt to do anything so I went to the foot doctor to find out what was going on. I had what is called Plantar Fasciitis which is very painful but I did everything the doctor asked me to fix it. The things he suggested worked a little but not enough for me to be able to do what I wanted to do so I switched to my funky toe shoes and now have no problems with my feet.

So now bootcamp was over and I needed something else to keep me going so my husband and I signed us up for the new gym that was going to open in a few months. At this point though I was beginning to become very frustrated with not being able to succeed in weight-loss. I felt like I was doing everything above and beyond to be able to reach my goals but nothing was working. I was also using a body media fit armband to help keep me in check but still, my body would not let go of the pounds. I decided that my last course of action was to go see my OBGYN, the man who had helped figure out why I couldn't carry babies to full term and is the reason why I have my two girls. I thought that since he was so good at finding answers that maybe he could help me.

I went in to him in February of 2011 and told him my whole story, everything that you just read, and he just looked at me and told me that something must be off if I had really been doing all this work and seeing no results. The lowest weight I ever got down to was around 225 and when I went in to the Doctor I was already back over 270 pounds. I was so frustrated! My doctor was determined to help me get answers and answers I got! After several trips to see him in Layton and a final Ultrasound he was able to tell me what I call good news because I was starting to think I was crazy and that I was going to be overweight my whole life. He told me that I have PCOS and Insulin Resistance and these two forces of nature were fighting against my efforts, and that the good thing was that there was a medicine that could help and keep these problems in check. He started me on Metformin Feb. 28th 2011 and it was amazing how quick I started to feel better. The only side effect I had from this medicine was some stomach issues but I will take stomach issues any day, rather than being overweight. Then, at the end of March after being on my meds for almost a month and getting my self re-motivated I started going to the new gym, JL Rec Center in Herriman and doing as many classes as I could handle. I am so grateful for this gym, for the trainers that teach the classes and for all the supportive people there and all the friends I have made there. I feel like I have such a huge group of people cheering me on and that is what keeps me going. People come up to me everyday and tell me that I look amazing and that I inspire them and cheer me on to keep going. I am very thankful for the kindness of others, it helps more than I can explain.

So here I am, 1 year later and 2 days away from weighing in to see how much I have lost. I am so close to being 100 pounds lighter from when I first started my journey. I am going off my 280 pounds as my original weight. I wish I would have kept track of how much weight I had lost only to gain back over the last five years, it is probably and insane number, in the 100's! I am glad to put that all behind me and I look forward to the future. My pictures freak me out because in my head, I was not that overweight person. I have a really good self esteem and so to see myself so big really boggles my mind because I don't know how I did this for so long being so big. I am so grateful that I am close to being down to a healthy weight. Things are so much easier for me now and I have been able to push myself to amazing limits.

Before I end this post I need to say thank you to my wonderful husband who has been my biggest fan, my biggest supporter and has always done everything he can to support me in my efforts. He has worked so hard for our family and he has made it possible for me to be able to go to the gym and do my thing, sometimes 7 hours a day and I love him and I am so glad I have him. I also want to thank my girls, they have been going along on this crazy ride and I couldn't do it without them, they are why I do this! Finally, thanks to all my friends and family who support me every step of the way. I love you all!

Here is to another great year of health and wellness!

Thanks for reading,

Jena

Finally!

So, I have been taking Metformin for almost 2 months now. The side effects have mostly gone away, no more upset stomach and no more food aversions, that one was the worst, everything sounded and smelled disgusting. I had a hard time eating anything. My husband had to start cooking because I could not eat anything I prepared.

Now, things are looking good. I am tolerating the medicine wonderfully and I am losing weight every week.

Also, my Sister who was diagnosed with PCOS when she was 14 called her Doctor and asked to be put on Metformin. She has never been treated for her PCOS and has always struggled with her weight, I hope it helps her as much as it is helping me.

Thanks for reading,

Jena

Metformin

2 weeks into using Metformin and I am handling 2 pills a day just fine. I tried 3 last week and they made my stomach upset every night. Tomorrow I am going to try to add a third pill again and hope for the best. I am starting to feel a lot better. My energy seems to be coming back and I am starting to feel like myself again.

I can't wait to start running again. I miss it so much. The local gym that we joined opens up on Friday. I am so excited to start going there to burn some serious calories! My plan is to start running again next week.

Jena

My Story

My name is Jena, I am 32 , a wife and a stay-at-home Mother of two. On Monday February 28th 2011 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome- PCOS and Insulin Resistance-IR. I want to share my story so that other women who have PCOS or may have it and have not been diagnosed yet can get the help and support they need.

This is my Story-

Starting a Family:

About three and a half years ago when I was done nursing my baby I decided I wanted to lose the weight I had gained over the last 7 years trying to start a family with my husband. In 7 years I was pregnant 6 times, 4 miscarriages, 2 beautiful healthy daughters. During our last pregnancy, I gained 60-80 lbs. I was huge and I wanted to get rid of the weight so I started to exercise.

Starting a new healthy lifestyle:

I started walking and jogging my 5 year old to school while pushing her and my 18 month old in a jogging stroller. I was also walking with friends in the evening and doing workouts with a friend who was a personal trainer. I then decided I was ready to start running in races to keep me motivated. I entered myself into a half marathon and completed it in 3:08 I was losing weight, but very slowly so I decided to hire my other friend who is a personal trainer. She gave me workout plans and food plans and things were looking really good, I started dropping weight and inches really quick at first but then it started to creep back on.

Frustrations:

I  decided to step it up a notch and work with another personal trainer who ran an extreme bootcamp class I had heard about. I went 5 days a week from 5:30am until 6:30am. I was also still running and training for other races. At first I dropped weight but then started gaining again.  I did boot camp from May 24th 2010-Jan 2011 and ended up weighing more than when I started. This wasn't the old saying "muscle weighs more than fat" I had visible fat on my stomach that seemed to be getting bigger instead of going away.

I also decided I needed something more to help me in my weight loss, so I purchased a Body Media Fit armband. It tracks my body movement, sweat, sleep, calorie burn and intake, etc... I still wasn't losing weight. I was getting so tired of working so hard and seeing no results.

All my hard work started to backfire on me too. In November of 2010 my feet starting hurting so bad I went into my podiatrist and got diagnosed with plantar fasciitis which is very painful. It made it hard to continue to be dedicated to work out so hard.

Finding answers:

It was time to get answers to why my hard work of eating right and working out was not paying off. I scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN to have some blood test run. 2 weeks of blood tests and an ultrasound confirmed there had been something wrong. On Monday, Feb. 28th I was diagnosed with PCOS and IR and my doctor put me on Metformin to help with the cysts and insulin resistance. Along with Metformin I am going to try to start eating a low GI diet and I hope that I will now start seeing the weight loss I very much deserve.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope to keep it updated with information that can be uplifting and helpful to all my Cysters out there searching for help!


--Jena