Metformin...sh** just got real!

I've been down and out for a bit. My hormones have always played a huge role in my mood, obviously, and I cannot say it helps being a military spouse. Even with the removal of my tumors last month, I still managed to keep an intense workout regimen (of course, I semi-listened to the doctor on recoup periods but I was not in pain, anyway) and actually rather on point with my food intake, but not obsessing over it and enjoying family time or the rare times out of the house. Yes, I was a bit thicker but I was using that extra bit to lift heavier. No bigs, right? Well, I thought not...until my husband left for training and I tightened my diet and put more HIIT cardio into my routines. Mind you: the last time I incorporated this same amount of HIIT, I was getting ripped pretty quickly. Nonetheless, somehow I managed to continue gaining and I realized I was definitely losing hard earned muscle. For the matters of health, I had been keeping a slightly lower intake of animal proteins, but nothing extravagant. My diet extremely PCOS friendly but yet, I could just FEEL myself out of whack; I am not typically an emotional person and I was crying, stressing, and confused about so much that was trivial and don't get me started on my damn mustache! Okay, okay, sob story over, I was proactive and made an appointment to discuss more endocrinology.
In the past, I have tried Hormone Replacement Therapy (progestin, chlomid, femara) and while I was not trying to conceive, my Doc wanted to see if these would help regulate my cycles, hence seeing if ovulatory function was even possible. My body reacted horribly, feeling like it went through menopause but yet the medication did not work for me but once. With that said, I said EFFFFFFFF feeling like a crazy lady (right, right!?) and really tried hard at the all-natural approach, simply healing through food, meditation, exercise, and only several herbal supplements to enhance proper function. Well, I haven't had a period in all that time and I have not been on a medication for nearly 2 years now.
Turns out, something in this crazy world of PCOS decided to trigger my hormones in another weird direction and I caved to TRYING, key word TRYING out a month of Metformin & Spiro. I can't even lie, just saying I'm on these suddenly makes me feel like part of this PCOS community all of a sudden. Sounds stupid, right? Since joining communities and reading educational studies on PCOS, I have constantly found and witnessed all these women on Metformin, but I was convinced that that was not for me because I did not think I had insulin resistance nor am I actively TTC. I've always been more of the, "eeehhhh what happens, happens" type of lady. So, to be on this stuff now, yes, yes, sh** just got real in the Sklenicka household! (I'm sure Ken will be happy he's not home for a while...) First 2 days review thus far: I've never NOT been thus UN-hungry. I can't lie on this either folks, I love to eat (be honest, who doesn't!?) and while I know how to eat clean and keep within my macro/kcal limits, these pills make me disgusted by even my favorite most tempting, colorful salad arrangement or (gasp) nut butter! I've been forcing some food in and trying to workout, although I feel fatigued rather quickly and thus my strength is down. Nausea was listed as a #1 side effect and ya, it isn't too bad but my digestive system has been making some funny sounds.....and I blame it on the dogs?! :-0  I have recently heard of Glucosmart and Glucocerin, which I am told are all-natural, which I'd prefer, but unfortunately I am sure are NOT covered by my healthcare. I'll dig deeper, though.
So, after this novel of a damn post, I was writing with an old friend and she made a comment on me having it rough these days; to which I replied, "More stories to add to the book of life!" It can be frustrating having issues that no one understands because they may not be visible to the naked eye and we can be on a rollercoaster of weight loss to weight gain, or even lose something so precious to our future (material or non) but at the end of the day, those build our character and make us stronger. God would not give us anything that He did not think we couldn't endure.

Oooh that pesky thing called STRESS!

PCOS Tip of the Day

  Choosing High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) over medium-maximal prolonged cardio can increase your resting metabolic rate, aid in muscle building, and has a lessened effect on rising cortisol levels! Many women with PCOS (myself being one) have the symptom of amenorrhea, or lack of a menstrual cycle, and it has been shown that this is exacerbated when the heart rate is elevated for long durations. Research study can be found,here. So: hit the track, your backyard, or a piece of cardio equipment and train like an athlete.  Short burst of high-intensity, mixed with some bodyweight exercises or a medium-intensity and then rest and repeat several more times; this will allow you to get the benefits mentioned above and you won’t spend hours in the gym wrecking yourself while you think you’re doing something healthy. *Note: I speak from experience, as I had once done 1 hour+ of cardio on the treadmill or stepper every day and actually ended up gaining weight and my hormones went ALL out of whack! 

First PCOS Tip of the Day!

PCOS Tip of the Day

Apple Cider Vinegar: with the ‘Mother’ has many proven health benefits for everyone and has been especially helpful in reducing my personal PCOS symptoms of acne, bloating, insulin spikes (when taken around higher carbohydrate or sugar intake) and lessened IBS, just to name a few! 

To start my day off on the right foot, I take a shot with a pinch of cayenne pepper spice and it is DELICIOUS as a dressing substitute!

Click here to read further information on the benefits of Organic ACV, straight from medical professionals!

Not 'if' but 'when'.

Not if, but, when I get my entrepreneurship revved and going, I am thinking: Six Packs & PCOS! I am starting to see my 6-pack coming back; limited cardio, heavy ass weights and food that works with my hormones rather than against it! Full blog coming later...

Confessions of an Under-eater and Overachiever

A back porch, sunshine on my face, Blender Bottle full of BCAAs sweating from the heat, but a cool breeze of the wind blowing my hair out of my face; what more could a lady ask for? This is me in this moment. Instead of being grateful for the little things in life, I found myself throwing yet another pity party for how stuffed and fluffy I feel. Regardless of my intense leg workout this morning, I still find myself feeling guilty over consuming appropriate amounts of nutrition to gain muscle (hence the title of this entry). After losing an initial mass weightloss over the span of several years, I truly began focusing on only consuming unprocessed foods about 1.5 years ago and it has all been trial and error. This was about the time I discovered what Bodybuilding.com had to offer and researching every bit I could into PCOS and how I should be eating to truly lean out. Mind you, I had thought that I put on a good portion of muscle mass, simply by picking up a weight. My problem: inconsistency with one regimen. Yes, I believe that the body needs to have variety or it will no longer see results, but I’m talking trying absolutely every training program and ‘diet’ out in BroScience land and Endocrinology research websites, trying to strike a balance between being a bodybuilder and living with a hormonal imbalance-atypical of most bodybuilding regimes.

Despite my rambling, I have a point regarding my headline:

After finally completing my first (all-the-way through…not half-assed) 12-week challenge through Bodybuilding.com/BodySpace, I felt AMAZING! I was seeing abs that I had worked so hard for but had never actually seen, but I couldn’t fight the fact that I had not really changed all that much in a 12-week span regardless of the max effort I put in. So, I took a few weeks to decrease my cardio slightly but still lifted in heavy circuits, because I was not about to lose those abs! Well, sure enough, even with clean eating and limited indulgences, my abs were *poof* gone in an instant. I’m still working on figuring out if it’s my sensitivity to carbs or just the fact that my body fat percentage was not low enough. Several weeks after the challenge ended, I was approached in the gym by an older gentleman that recognized my dedication in the gym and volunteered his time to coach me for an upcoming figure show debut. Awesome, right?! It seemed that way for the first few weeks. I was getting my butt kicked but I loved that he said I was eating the right foods and portion sizes and said I would never max out over 1 hour of cardio-ever. (Annoying buzzer sound, here!) Well, sure enough, even me explaining my PCOS to him, he realized I wasn’t dropping weight like ‘most people’ would for the hours of training and food restrictions; so instead of listening to my input of trying high-intensity sprint intervals, he increased my cardio and pretty soon my life was all consumed with this and I soon became miserable. To make a long story short, I got news that a medical surgery took precedence over the show and the coach turned out to be ummm-unprofessional, to say the least- so after intense calorie restriction and all day gym sessions I was left having to have surgery and told to stay out of the gym for several weeks. Oh goody. Despite my long, leisurely walks with my husband and still doing some light cardio when I wasn’t in pain and of course, eating at a calorie deficit; I managed to gain weight right back. During this time I watched one too many of Dr. Layne Norton’s Youtube videos and read up on other bodybuilders and fitness professionals-with scientific degrees- on how to properly treat your body without destroying your mind and body, as I was doing. You see, when I am told to follow a plan, I follow it to a ‘T’, I execute everything with the mindset that it needs to be perfect and if I do not achieve what I envisioned, my psychological state begins to suffer. (PCOS women, you know all too well the cycle of stress from additional cortisol and quick onset of depression. REMEMBER: Stress will only make the fat cling and do NOT let your mind control your happiness!) When I added up how much I was eating on that prep prior to my surgery, I was down to ~800 calories/day, all of chicken, asparagus, and egg whites. Prior to that major deficit, I always thought it was recommended that I stay below 1200 calories/day to lose. Well, if you’re always trying to LOSE, eventually you have no further place to go and your body fights with you to maintain homeostasis. Putting this in perspective: I have been eating under 1200 calories/day (with the exception of family gatherings, holidays, or the occasional treat meal) for the past ummm, I’d say 3 years. Yes, that worked to get initial weight off, but I don’t know how I thought I could ever gain muscle size or cut when I have no surplus to cut from!

Back to me, sitting here fluffy and stuff… Over the past week being back in the gym I have been focusing on lifting some heavy @$$ weight and slowly increased my calories. Even my carbs. I still cannot manage to look in the mirror without being sad about lost abs or the feeling that I cannot stomach the amount of food I should be consuming to put on muscle, but my intent is to be able to stand this amount of food without putting on an excess amount of fat, so that when I do incorporate cardio again (no 2 hour sessions, I’ll be doing sprint intervals, sport activities, and yoga) I have a number to cut down from and know how to properly balance my intake to cut slowly. Perhaps I will utilize BB.com’s Cellucor challenge to lean out a bit so I feel more comfortable at the beach but nothing crazy and I’m pretty sure we’re looking at some muscle gains when my husband deploys again in the fall. I will never subject myself to an unhealthy way of life that only permits rebounds, poor self-esteem, or eating disorders. As much as it pains me not to feel comfortable yet in my bikini on the beach, living in Coastal Carolina, I know it will pay off in the long run. And, hey, my doctor said I shouldn’t be exposing myself to the bacteria from the sand and ocean yet, anyway; backyard kiddie pool with the pups, here I go!

Never forgo your happiness for an extrinsic motivator. Dig deep and know that you truly cannot succeed for long-term until you have intrinsic motivation and a deeper purpose to lead a healthy, balanced life.