Day Eleven

Today was the last day of PartyLite National Conference.  It was a busy and information packed day.   I got dressed and dragged my bags to the Drury Inn where my ride had stayed.   Even a rolling bag gets really heavy when you drag it a couple of blocks.  Whew!  I did get to spend that quick walk with my leader, Rose.  I always feel like I leave a conversation with her one step ahead of where I was.  And she bought me coffee.  :) 

 I walked down 17 flights of stairs because the elevator was backed up, dragged my luggage from one hotel to another and walked a LOT.  I realize that none of it was really consistent enough to count as actual exercise, it sure FELT like exercise!  :)
 After the consultant session in the morning, I made a few calls on my lunch break and headed back into the hall for the final general session.  There is a contest to go to the top secret facility in Illinois where they engineer the fragrances and create the candles.  And next year's getaway is to CANCUN!  All I have to do is work my business consistently and I'll be going to both!  Conference will be a whole different thing when I got to Minneapolis as a leader next year! 

Due to a wrong exit, we ended up in Illinois for a couple of minutes before we were back in Missouri.  I can now add a new state to my list I've visited!  :)  We grabbed some QuikTrip snacks on our way out of St. Louis and then spent the next four hours reviewing what we discussed in conference.  Sonya and I are both working towards leadership so we threw a lot of questions at Rose and Patti.  That trip went by really quickly until we actually got to KC.  It took about 45 minutes to drop Rose off at her house before we got back to Patti's.  Dan and the kids were already waiting in Patti's driveway.  Livi about knocked me over with her running hug!  It was good to be home. 

We ended up eating dinner at 9:45pm at the Chinese Wok.  It was yummy and a decent food choice.  I was so ready to sleep in my own bed.  *yawn*

Food Log
  
Breakfast:  caramel machiato

Lunch:  sandwich and a pear

Snack:  QT hot dog and chicken taquito

Dinner at 9:45pm  hunan shrimp and broccoli, spring roll, 2 crab rangoon, egg drop soup

Day Ten

Friday was a very intensive study day.  We had general session from nine to noon, an information packed action plan session from one to four and then a third session from six to seven thirty.  My roomies held off on supper until after my last session. By the time we all got organized and we got a cab, it was ten when we finished supper.  We ate at the Morgan Street Brewery in Laclede's Landing.  It's in this really neat old brick building.  The food was great and reasonably priced.  We had an awesome waitress named Vanessa, who by now should be living in gay Pari!  She told us she's a gypsy at heart.  :) Then we walked down to The Big Bang.  When someone suggested we go to a piano bar, my first thought was cheap hotel lounge act.  Wow, this was NOT that.  It was loud and crazy.  The music was a lot of 80's stuff but I think I knew every song they played.  It was the best musical experience I have had in a long time.  It reminded me of a time back in Hays when a guy had this birthday party out in the country and it was just a big jam session on the front porch with a bunch of friends hangin' out on the lawn.  We got home around midnight, but since we were up at six every day, I was pretty ready to crash.

Food log

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs, bacon, 1/2 glass of orange juice and some cantaloupe.

Snack:  honey roasted cashews.  Not as good as raw cashews, but the best option available at the time.

Lunch:  Deli sliced pork sandwich.  The bun was really big so I didn't eat it all.  It came with a Golden Graham Smores snack thing, a bag of vanilla creme sandwich cookies and a bag of chips.  I didn't eat any of that stuff.  I gave it all away at some point during the day. 

Snack:  More cashews.

Dinner:  Small Greek salad, one goat cheese crouton and a Maryland blue crab cake sandwich.  I also ate one conique, which is a small blob of mashed potato that has been deep fried.  It was tasty, but fried stuff does not seem as tasty as it used to.  I think that's a good thing. :)

Day Nine

Thursday was such a really great day.  I started out by lounging in bed as my roommates who are already leaders prepared to go to the leader training today.  Tracy and I took our time getting ready and then headed out to the grocery store near the hotel.  We arrived around 10 so they had just finished serving breakfast.  We found an outdoor table and we sat for almost an hour, eating our brunch and getting to know each other.  It was the most relaxing morning I have had in a really long time.

Next, we walked back past our hotel and the conference center to the Drury Inn where they had a few business vendors.  They had everything from invitation postcards to tiny purses for games, stickers and stamps and things to help make a display sparkle.  They had necklaces that you picked out rings with sayings on them and then you put them on a leather string.  I picked three rings for each of my girls.  I picked strong, beautiful, daughter for Ash and amazing, beautiful, daughter for Livi.  They weren't very expensive but they were nice and the girls really love them.  :)

After the vendors, Tracy and I headed for the product expo.  They hadn't revealed all of the new products yet, but there are some really cute Halloween things in the little haunted walk through.  They also had tables set up with washtubs full of the nine new fragrances.  Of course, I love gingerbread, cinnamon eggnog and spiced cider!  Anything with cinnamon is good with me.  :) 


We had a late lunch and then headed to the first general session.  I didn't get in any organized exercise today, but I got a lot of walking in!  Once the general session was over, our group headed back to our rooms, made phone calls home and headed for bed. 

I wasn't able to eat the kinds of things I should be eating so far.  I'm already trying to work out ideas for trips in the future so that I'll have some better options.

Food Log

Brunch:  Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.  Orange.

Dinner:  Chicken and Swiss sandwich, apple and macaroni salad.

Late snack:  Trail mix, triscuits with Eazy Cheese and a glass of white wine.

Day Eight

I finished a few work things and made sure Dan had what he needed that I could help with and then I packed my bags.  I have never been to national conference before so I don't really know what to expect.  I DO know that when I get home, I'll have over $300 in PartyLite products, for FREE!

I know that the new stuff will be as amazing as ever and I'm really looking forward to all of the training.  I am VERY excited!  I actually forgot to eat breakfast, which is not so good for me, but I didn't even realize it until lunch time.  lol

So, my food log is a bit off today and I didn't exercise today.  I plan to use the fitness center at least once during my trip.  I should have time tomorrow morning and then I'll have to see what other time slot I can find.

I DID take my vitamins like a good kid today.

Food Log

Lunch:  Payton made me a shake for lunch.  It had two bananas, 1/2 cup of ground up cashews, 1/3 cup of vanilla almond milk and a smattering of raisins.  As it turns out, cashews in the food processor don't turn into cashew butter.  They just get ground up really fine.  They did work in the shake and it tasted pretty good.  Next time though, I was thinking I would have either more milk or less banana because it was too thick to drink.  One of my roommates, Tracy, suggested that I try using more milk and a frozen banana.  I'll have to try that myself since Payton won't be home for a couple of weeks.  I also had one grilled chicken breast (a McDonald's grilled chicken sandwich, hold everything) to make sure I have enough protein.

Dinner:  We grabbed Taco Bell on our way to conference. I had a chicken taquito with guacamole and half of a chicken quesadilla.  And I drank lots of water.

I did not have a snack late today.  I really didn't eat much at all but I never felt the low sugar loopies, so I must have done something all right.

As for exercise, we did walk to the casino.  It was a half a mile walk and we walked fast enough for it to count as aerobic exercise, based on the I can talk but not sing method.  So, I got a mile once we walked back, not counting all of the walking from the entrance to the casino and the stairs.  I did not gamble any money because I wanted to make sure not to run low before the end of the conference and they had the moving sidewalk things, but I walked on the floor and kept up with people actually walking on the moving sidewalk.  :)  Not bad for a missed workout day!

The conference starts tomorrow and I'm super excited!

Day Seven

Today, I took my 4.2 mile path that is fairly level.  I REALLY wanted to sleep in but I have an early appointment to close out a show tomorrow so I had to get up. I was up until one finishing up the football cards that I make up for Payton and his dad.  They are leaving for their annual trip to Cincinnati Bengals training camp in Lexington, Kentucky.  Since I am leaving for National Conference tomorrow, I had to get the cards done today.  There are all printed and I will cut them tonight or tomorrow morning.  I will aim for tonight because I don't want anything major to remember tomorrow.

I did some stretches so I wouldn't hurt my hip again and headed out on my Trek.  I reversed direction from the way I went before so I have a short steep hill at the end instead of a long mild slope.  I stopped after about a mile for a drink of water.  Then I rode another mile and stopped for a drink.  Then I rode the rest of the way home without water.  Right now, I carry a water bottle in a back pack so I have to stop to take a drink.  I didn't stop the second half because I didn't want to lose momentum, but I was trying to make sure I'm staying hydrated in this heat.  Dan told me I need to get one of those clippy water bottles that serious cyclists use.  I think he's right, assuming I have the coordination to drink and ride.  lol

So tomorrow I am headed for National Conference, I am very excited!  I'll be staying at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis. Checking it out online, it is definitely the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in.  They have a 24 hour fitness center and I don't have anything scheduled for Thursday morning so I can for sure work out then.  I'll also try to squeeze in a work out on Friday morning, but I'll have to check out shower schedules with my roommates.  I am really excited about this.  I feel like attending conference is going to help me move my business into career gear.  I've already got my itinerary, my name tag, my conference T-shirt and lists of things to pack.  I will start tonight and finish tomorrow morning.  I will be riding to St. Louis with a lovely lady named Patti.  She has been in this business a lot longer than I have and I plan to take advantage of the opportunity to pick her brain for ideas. :)  Then, three days of the most successful women this business has to offer, and a ride back with Patti and Rose, my leader and mentor.  How can I not grow by leaps and bounds with this kind of support?

It's crazy for me though.  Ash comes home today and I will barely see her before I leave tomorrow.  I won't be here on Thursday when Payton leaves for two weeks with his daddy.  And I'll be away from Livi for three and a half days.  I'm not worried about my kids, I know they will all be fine.  It's just a whole new level of independence for me.  I am so co-dependent.  Until I started making some changes, building my business, exercising, evolving in my thinking, and most importantly, creating a new self awareness and a new identity for myself that doesn't revolve around anyone else but me, I really had no idea that I didn't even know how to live on my own.  It's just . . . wow.

Food Log

Breakfast:  Banana.  2 eggs scrambles with onions, green peppers, broccoli and Parma! Vegan Parmesan.  Parma! doesn't really taste anything like parmesan to me, but it's a nice flavor kick and it's non dairy.

Lunch:  Philly cheese steak sandwich and coleslaw.  I know, lots of bread and cheese, and not a low fat meat choice either.  It was really yummy and I had unsweetened tea.  I'll have to figure out something better for supper.

Dinner:  grilled onions, red and green peppers, zucchini and lean hamburger.  4 corn tortilla chips with refried beans and cheese.

Snack:  Carrot cake.  Soy free, dairy free, gluten free, casein free, free of lots of other things but still very yummy!

Is there a topic that you would like more information about regarding PCOS?  Cycling?  Or starting a home business?  I don't have all the answers, YET!  But I'd love to help you find them!  :)

Day Six

It's already day six??  Wow!  This week has been going by quickly, and I feel like I have really done well for myself.  Not all of my choices have been fabulous, but I have made drastic improvements over my old way of eating.  I am feeling better in so many ways.  I am energized by the exercise instead of drained now.  My portions are a lot smaller than they were.  But I think the most important change is how much better I feel just knowing that I am actively working to improve my health.  I am not just being tossed on the rapids of PCOS.  I have taken control.  That is such an empowering feeling that I can already see ways to take charge in other aspects of my life.

If I can take charge of my health, even in the incredibly demanding J-O-B that Dan and I have, then I can take charge of other things too.  We CAN wrangle our finances to get to a better place.  I CAN take my home business to the level of a career.  We CAN find a path that will empower both Dan and I and allow us to empower our kids.

It's a really nice feeling.

Food log

breakfast:  2 eggs scrambles with grilled chicken, onions and green peppers and an orange

Lunch:  2 breaded chicken strips, a peach and spinach salad with onions and broccoli and TSG Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette 

Snack:  A peach, no protein, I was out of cashews.  I have to really focus on keeping good snack combos handy.  I'm leaving for conference on Wednesday and I really need to make sure I can have something in my bag with me.  I'm going to get really tired of cashews.

Dinner:  Turkey meatloaf patty thing.  a handful of grapes.

I didn't ride today so I could give my hip a rest.  I'll do some stretches in the morning before I head out and I'm going to go with my 4.2 mile ride that's fairly level.  I hope to be back on track Wednesday for one more long ride before I head to conference.  I know there is a fitness center at the hotel and I'm going to check over the schedule tonight so I can schedule in work outs.  It won't be nearly as much fun as a downhill ride, but it will be much better than doing nothing.

Measurements tomorrow!  Stay tuned for progress!

Day Five

So, today I headed to the bank.  I wasn't sure how long it was, but I headed up Lawrence Avenue thinking it might be an easier road than that last hill on Fall Creek Road.  It wasn't.  I had to stop for water twice on the hill, but I did not walk my bike!  Now that I'm looking it up, this hill was .6 miles long as the last one was only .2 miles.  I guess that explains why it seemed so much harder!  Once I turned on to Trail, I did walk my bike for about a block to get my wind back before I finished my ride to the bank.  Then I pushed on a little farther so I could ride down Fall Creek Road on my way home.  :)  That rush was just as good today as it was the first time!  I made it 6.1 miles today.

I saw a lot of dogs this morning.  All the walkers with them were very friendly and it was a pretty pleasant ride.  I really enjoy being outside of my box.  I have my walls down when I'm on my bike in a way that I'm not sure I do in other circumstances.  On my way home, I noticed a man with a baby stroller.  He pushed the stroller with one hand so it was between him and the street and he looked at the baby the whole time.  It's like he was afraid to leave himself exposed, so he used his baby as a buffer.  At first, I thought it was kind of silly, but then I realized that I do the same thing.  Just yesterday, we were in a leasing office when another couple walked in.  Livi started talking to them and Dan said hello.  I stayed focused on Livi.  I've been using her as my link to the rest of the world so I don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing.  I hadn't realized I was even doing it until I noticed someone else hiding behind his kid.  I've really got to do something about that.


Another thing I noticed today was that although I was having difficulties, when I was on a flat stretch, I didn't need the gears to be as easy.  I am starting to get the hang of the gears.  Also, I'm starting to get to the point that a short hill just makes me work harder.  I had to find a balance between not able to make it up the hill and making it too easy.   I am already seeing the difference in the feel of my workouts.  Tomorrow, I have got to get to the bike shop to see if a new saddle might help with my hip troubles.

Food Log

Breakfast:  buttermilk pancake with sugar-free syrup, bacon and hash browns.   I have a terrible time making good choices once I'm in a place with bad options.  I am going to have to figure out a way to work around that. 

Lunch:  none, breakfast was really late.

Dinner:  Chinese buffet.  I ate fruit and veggies.  I did have an egg roll and a crab rangoon, but I think that overall, this was a much better meal than I have eaten in the past. 

Tomorrow I will be going to the store and I will be buying things that I can eat that are healthier.  I have to find something that I can take with me as a snack when I'm out and about. 

I'm starting to get anxious about Tuesday.  That's when I'll take my measurements again to see how I did.  I am already feeling some of the effects of the bike rides even if I'm not doing so great on the nutritional part yet.  Baby steps are better than no steps at all. 

I'd love to hear your strategies for making healthy food choices in situations that are less than healthy!

Day Four

Well, I wasn't up to biking today.  My tummy was not very happy with me this morning.  Tomorrow, I am biking no matter what.  I have had two days off and I don't want to lose my momentum.

I have gotten several responses about various symptoms of PCOS.  I thought that today would be a great time to talk about the symptoms of PCOS.

Polycystolic Ovary Syndrome can include a vast array of symptoms that manifest differently for each woman.  Because there are so many variations of symptoms, it is difficult to diagnose.  Besides that, not all doctors seem to be on the look out for PCOS.  Most commonly, PCOS is diagnosed when a woman having trouble conceiving visits a fertility specialist.  The rough estimate is that 10% of all women have PCOS.  The problem with this number is that so little is known about PCOS and it's not very public, which means that the true percentage may be much higher.  It will take a lot more research and several more years of publicity to bring PCOS to the forefront of womens health issues.  Once that day arrives, we may be amazed to realize how many women have been struggling alone.  My goal is to work to educate the public until there is not one woman left with PCOS thinking that she is lazy or ugly or less than a woman simply because her body is fighting against her.  PCOS is a disorder that can be challenged only with a solid understanding of what it is that we are fighting against.

According to The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility, the most common symptoms of PCOS include:

• Multiple ovarian cysts
• Polycystolic ovaries 2-3 times larger than healthy ovaries
• Irregular periods or a lack of periods
• Infertility
• Acne
• Obesity, or an inability to lose weight
• Facial hair, excessive body hair
• Insulin resistance or diabetes
• Thinning scalp hair
• Velvety, hyperpigmented skin folds
• High blood pressure
• Multiple hormonal imbalances, including testosterone, cortisol, estrogen, follicle stimulating hormone, insulin, luteinizing hormone, progesterone, prolactin and thyroid hormones.

Depression, fatigue and anxiety are also side effects of PCOS.  It is not know if these are caused by hormonal imbalances or if they are a result of the loss of control of our bodies and just being worn out from struggling with the myriad other symptoms.   

You may look at this list and think, sure maybe some of that applies to me, maybe I even have PCOS.  I've already lived with it this long.  Big deal, right?

WRONG!  The stress on your body that is caused by PCOS can lead to some very scary long term effects!  The risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, seizures and high risk pregnancies are all greatly increased by PCOS.  This is way too serious an issue to be ignored!

If you think you may have PCOS, talk to your doctor, do your own research, find a naturopathic practitioner, whatever it takes.  Learn all you can and find a good support base.  You are not alone and you should not feel alone.  If you have PCOS, and you know 19 other women, odds are good that at least one of them also has PCOS.  If you don't have PCOS and you know 9 women, one of them may be struggling with more than you can begin to understand.  PCOS attacks your sense of self worth, your sense of womanhood, your appearance and your identity.  No one should go through this alone.


Food Log
Breakfast: a Livi sized fist full of cashews

Lunch:  2 medium slices of supreme pizza and 1/2 a slice of pepperoni.  I know this was a truly horrible lunch.  There was nothing good about it for me except for how it tasted!  We were exploring Edwardsville and wanted to eat somewhere we hadn't been before.  Normally, I have been eating 3-4 large slices of pizza per sitting, so although the food itself was not what I should have been eating, I was proud of myself for at least sticking with a healthier portion.

Dinner:  Payton wanted BBQ.  I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, without the bread, with coleslaw and broccoli salad.  I drank water with lemon in it.  The pork tasted the same as it usually does as we've been there several times, but I noticed the taste of the fat in the meat more than I used to.  I am definitely feeling the effects of the changes I have made to my diet.  I didn't even eat half of the meat.  It was yummy, but that sense of fat was kind of bothering me for a change.  I also ate four or five of Livi's fries and four or five pieces of Dan's fried okra.  The broccoli salad had yogurt in it, so it was dairy, which didn't click until I had already eaten it.  I felt like I had made all right choices, but after dinner, my tummy disagreed. 

Snack:  Banana and raw cashews

A day like today was a not so subtle reminder of why I need to eat the things I should.  It has only taken a few days of better eating habits to notice that I'm eating a lot smaller portions and unhealthy foods aren't tasting as good as they used to.  The implications for the long term are pretty good, but it kind of makes me sad to think of all the foods I won't be able to enjoy like I used to.  I have been enjoying my fresh fruits, but I'm going to have to find some more creative ways to enjoy the things I can so I don't have to eat unhealthy things to feel a little spoiled every now and again.

Vitamins
As usual, I had Vitamin D, fish oil, a multivitamin and B complex.  Since I forgot my vitamins until after we got home, I did not take magnesium.  It's not so good on an upset stomach.  Also, I have failed to mention that I take melatonin at bedtime.  Your cells need it for breaking down and rebuilding enzymes, although I need to study how a little better before I can explain it.  Mostly though, it helps me relax when I am tired so that I feel sleepy and it helps me to sleep through the night instead of waking up two or three times.

The moral of today's story:  If you think you have PCOS, find a good doctor and good friends to help you in your struggle.  If someone you care about may have PCOS, share this blog. 

Day Three

Well, after snoozing until 7:34am, I was still really tired. My hips are sore and stiff and I just didn't want to get out of bed. Then Dan reminded me that we have training classes that we both have to attend today. Looks like today will not be a good day for a bike ride. I'll get an early start tomorrow and ride on Saturday when no one can schedule a meeting or a training class.

I sat next to my friend, Dorothy, in training. She was amazed at how much I've been riding. She asked me what motivated me and got me started. Dorothy wanted to know if being healthy had jump started me. I told her that was part of it, but honestly, I remembered how much I loved riding bikes when I was a kid. Then I saw a cheap, good bike and that was the end of that! :)

My vitamins are the same as they were on day one, Vitamin D, B complex, multivitamin, magnesium and fish oil. I think I will add a side thingie that says what vitamins I am taking and why and then I won't have to mention them every day. Emily told me she could help me with this whole process, so I'll have to see if I'm teachable. lol

Food Log

Breakfast: Orange

Snack or late breakfast: 2 poached eggs. They were done when I ate my orange but too hot so I had to take Dan to training and then come back home to eat them. I need to boil a few eggs again so I have easy protein.

Lunch: Taco salad. This time I got guac instead of sour cream. I stole two of Payton's tater tots and ate the last 1/3 of Livi's combo burrito. I should have thrown that away. I was ok for about five minutes and then I broke down. Next time I'll get my lazy butt up and toss it so I don't eat food that is bad for me.

I have a party to run at 5:30 today so I need to remember to have a substantial snack before I go.

Snack: Cashews, sugar snap peas, strawberries and cherry tomatoes

Dinner: Jalepeno BBQ Salmon with grilled veggies and a side salad. It was yummy and mostly healthy, but I still felt like I over ate. From a health standpoint, this wasn't bad, but from a budgetary point, this was a mistake.

Just to add another major change, we are trying to restructure our finances and sixty dollars on dinner was not part of our plan. Dave Ramsey would not be proud of that dinner. We paid cash, but we should have just eaten at home. I need to go full time with my business so I can still have time to cook us healthy, cost efficient meals.

Why is it that there are millions of diet books, millions of time management books and millions of money making books out there, but I have never seen one with all three. Why are these each sold separately? My theory is that this is really all the same problem. It all boils down to the long term versus the short term. Do I want to be healthy more than I want those tortilla chips and salsa? Yes, today I did! Do I want to make calls that can earn me money more than I want to read my book? Yes, today I did! Do I want to fix dinner at home and quit my job more than I want to go out for dinner and not cook? Apparently, today that was not the case. It WAS payday and we do have the money and it's allocated for restaurants, it was just a lot bigger chunk than I anticipated. It wasn't a horrible choice, just not really a good one either.

Now that it's already 11:30pm and I am still full from supper, I will be skipping my evening snack. :)

I really did have a good day today, and I cleaned up a lot of trash and swept my kitchen. I had a fun candle party with a friend who I hadn't really had much chance to talk to in a long time. A much better end today than my post meeting doldrums yesterday! I'm looking forward to Day Four, complete with an early morning ride and a budget meeting with Dan!

Day Two

Wow, my butt really didn't like that! Last night, I told Payton that I would ride to the store to pick up his breakfast drink mix. I figured if I told him I would do it, I had to follow through and do it. It's all about accountability! :) I checked my map and the shortest route to HyVee is 3 miles.

I noticed today that it's like I've come out from behind my walls. There is no bug splattered windshield between me and the world. People walking and running don't pay attention to people in cars, but they smile and say, "Good morning," to a fat girl on a bike. :)

There is a lot of uphill road on the trip to HyVee, but I thought it should be OK because most of it is gradual with the path I chose. Boy, was I wrong. :( The second half of the trip started with a quarter mile hill . I'm still learning to shift gears, so I'm hoping it will get easier in time, but this time was not so easy. About half way up, I got off the bike and walked the rest of the way up.

Once I got to the top of the hill, I rode the rest of the way and I DID make it to HyVee. I walked into the store and the thought of coffee at the little stand just inside the door didn't sound yummy to me like it used to. I'm pretty sure that's progress. I left my bike near the door with my helmet and my bottle of water. I called Dan to make sure there wasn't something else important and light that I needed to pick up and had forgotten, but there wasn't. I made him promise to stay close to the phone in case I needed to call him for a ride on the way home. I visualized the return route in my head several times. I was trying to make sure that it had been as uphill as I thought, because if I was realistic, my ride home should be mostly downhill. I was really hoping so and I was a little reluctant to find out, in case I was wrong.

After I checked out, I saw Kathy. She is super nice. Her son is in Payton's class. She asked if I had been walking or running to get all sweaty. I told her that I had just ridden three miles from our house on my bike. We chatted a little, which was nice, and then she told me that she was proud of me. That made it a lot easier to hop back on that bike and head home.

I discovered that coming home really IS mostly downhill. I was smiling so big on that big yucky hill! I felt like I was ten again. There were no worries. It was just me and my bike, flying down a long hill in a pretty neighborhood. It was amazing! What a rush! It's ok that my butt hates me. Really. Because when I'm done, I'll have much less butt to argue with. lol

After I made it home, I posted my six miles on facebook. I chatted with a friend from high school about bike shops. Jayna said that her goal is to do the "Ride Across Kansas" next summer. I'm not sure I'll be up to that yet. A hundred miles a day! That just seems insane when I'm struggling with 6. I know it WILL be doable, I just don't know how far off that is. Maybe not next summer, but you never know. It's worth having a goal. I like that one. :)

Vitamins
I took vitamin D, magnesium, fish oil, b complex and a multivitamin again. Check out Day One if you want to see why I am taking what I do.

Breakfast: 32 ounces of water (through out my ride and breakfast), an orange and a handful of raw cashews.

Lunch: Taco salad. I should have had guacamole instead of sour cream, but I forgot. Baby steps. :)

Snack: Banana and an orange.

Dinner: Rib eye with the fat trimmed, cantaloupe and Momma's apple walnut salad.

Evening snack: Walnut salad with almond butter and a swizzle of honey.

I think I made some pretty good food choices over all today. It was a really good day until I went to a meeting at work. We spent 20 minutes going over an issue that was already resolved. Then we discussed several other issues in a way that made me feel that everything I said had to be double thought before spoken. I didn't leave feeling as if we had accomplished something. I left feeling drained. I was not just drained of energy, but of all the good feelings that remained from this morning.

I really need to leave this job. I have no control over it. I cannot limit the amount of stress that I am dealing with. I do not have time to keep my friendships strong. I cannot build my business. I don't have any quality time with my kids even though I see them all day long. We'll just have to see how soon we can make something happen.

Day One

Ok, so technically, it's more like Day One: Take Three, or maybe even four. I've started taking steps to lose weight before and I've even had a program where I went to the gym and worked with some really great personal trainers. But this time is different. I can think of three reasons why things are different this time.

First of all, since I began my regimen of supplements, my depression has been a lot better. There are days that I still struggle and there are those days that are going to be hard no matter what. Overall though, I feel like a happy person who has bad days. That's such a nice change that I am still amazed at how good it feels to really be happy again.

Secondly, I am sick and tired of being fat. I hate having acne, especially since it was supposed to end with high school. I hate that people think I am fat and depressed by choice. I'm tired of losing more hair in one shampooing than my daddy has on his entire head. The difference is, not that I am not a sad person with good days, this doesn't make me sad. It makes me mad. And now that I'm angry, I'm more motivated to do something about it.

Finally, I bought a copy of "The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility." It's such a complete resource for all aspects of PCOS that I don't feel so lost anymore. I had a great doctor. She moved so I have to find someone new, but she helped me find a path. I at least have a road map now. I have a plan of action, and who doesn't feel better knowing they have a plan?

So, this is my last Day One. Let's see where it goes!

I started my bike ride at 7:30am. That's after I snoozed from 6:53am. I biked 4.2 miles in 21 minutes! Go me! My thighs are sore so I don't know that I'll be riding tomorrow and I have to get my bike checked out because it makes funny noises, but I did it!

Vitamins

Vitamin D helps conquer depression.

Magnesium helps make insulin more efficient, hence it is good for insulin resistance, a major drawback of PCOS. It also helps with inflammation which is caused in part by eating foods that are not good for your body.

B vitamins are used to "enrich" bread and cereals that have already been sucked dry of nutrients. As grains are not recommended for women with PCOS, I'm not feeling all that enriched, so I take a B complex.

Fish oil contains essential fatty acids that our bodies can't make for themselves. The omega 3s help our cells function at an optimal level and maintain the health of our nervous system.

Multivitamins are necessary to fill in the gaps in my diet. I am trying to be healthy, but some days it works better than others. :)

Food log

After run: Three squares of dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds. That's a half serving.

Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with chicken breast, grilled onions and green peppers. 16 ounces of water.

Lunch: Arby's large roast beef sandwich with lettuce and tomato. (There's really not much that was good in this lunch choice.)

Afternoon drink: 32 ounce tea from Arby's because they forgot our drinks with lunch. I had 1/4 sweet tea and the rest was unsweetened. I realize that adding the sugar is not great, but I figured it was at least a step in the right direction to not just fill it up with the sugary stuff.

Dinner: 6 ounces of rib eye with the fat trimmed and cooked medium well. Large salad with egg, tomato, onion and Two Sister's Gourmet Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette. Very yummy! (I know there's a lot of fat in that steak, but it was already in the fridge and all . . .)

Snack: 1 actual serving (159 calories, but who's counting?) of a mostly legal dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds. Of course there is sugar in it, but everything else about it is pretty much ok. And tasty. :)

I went to the bike shop this afternoon and picked up a handlebar bag and gloves. I also got a tune up. Tomorrow I will ride three miles to HyVee for breakfast drink mix for Payton. Then I'll breathe a bit and turn around to ride home. My butt is not going to like this.

Getting Started

All right. I have a plan. I'm gonna plan the work and work the plan. I have read through "The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility." I am trying to make food choices that follow their guidelines. I bought a bike, a Trek 800, for 75 bucks from Eddie on Craig's list. I spent a little more getting a tune up and now I have a great bike, cheap! YEAH ME! And thanks to Eddie!

Now I'll be logging my food and my exercise every day and I'll be tracking my progress so I can see that it's working. Hopefully, my progress can help someone else and maybe if I get stuck, someone out there will have a great idea or two.

I'm not going to be using a scale right now because I am wanting to measure my overall health rather than just my weight. Once I know I'm on the right track, I'll start using the scale to watch day to day variations to help determine what foods and things are helping me and what are not.

Starting measurements on July 20, 2010

Neck: 15.25"
Bust: 48.5"
Upper Arm: 18"
Waist: 44.5"
Hip: 52"
Thigh: 28.5"

I'm going to start logging all my food, exercise and supplements tomorrow.