Monday, January 24, 2011

The Evil Inside Me

I've had a busy busy week both mentally and physically. I finally got my act together and went back to the Dr for my follow up that was I supposed to do a couple of months ago. I could blame things like a busy schedule and the crazy fall my family experienced but really it boils down to the fact that I was avoiding the appointment. I knew I had to have blood work and I knew that the results were going to be the same as before and I knew that the Dr would have a lot to tell me.
 
Well I was right. The Dr informed me that I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS. I have Googled and read a lot of information and this clip from WEB MB is a good overview.

 
What is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (say "pah-lee-SIS-tik OH-vuh-ree SIN-drohm") is a problem in which a woman’s hormones are out of balance. It can cause problems with your periods and make it difficult to get pregnant. PCOS may also cause unwanted changes in the way you look. If it is not treated, over time it can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease.

  
Polycystic ovary syndrome (or PCOS) is common, affecting as many as 1 out of 15 women. Often the symptoms begin in the teen years. Treatment can help control the symptoms and prevent long-term problems.

What are hormones, and what happens in PCOS?

Hormones are chemical messengers that trigger many different processes, including growth and energy production. Often, the job of one hormone is to signal the release of another hormone.

For reasons that are not well understood, in PCOS the hormones get out of balance. One hormone change triggers another, which changes another. For example:
 
The sex hormones get out of balance. Normally, the ovaries make a tiny amount of male sex hormones (androgens). In PCOS, they start making slightly more androgens. This may cause you to stop ovulating, get acne, and grow extra facial and body hair.

 
The body may have a problem using insulin, called insulin resistance. When the body doesn't use insulin well, blood sugar levels go up. Over time, this increases your chance of getting diabetes.
 
What are the symptoms
Symptoms tend to be mild at first. You may have only a few symptoms or a lot of them. The most common symptoms are:
  • Acne.
  • Weight gain and trouble losing weight.
  • Extra hair on the face and body. Often women get thicker and darker facial hair and more hair on the chest, belly, and back.
  • Thinning hair on the scalp.
  • Irregular periods. Often women with PCOS have fewer than nine periods a year. Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding.
  • Fertility problems. Many women who have PCOS have trouble getting pregnant (infertility).
  • Depression.
  • Most women with PCOS grow many small cysts on their ovaries. That is why it is called poly cystic ovary syndrome. The cysts are not harmful but lead to hormone imbalance
What causes PCOS?

The symptoms of PCOS are caused by changes in hormone levels. There may be one or more causes for the hormone level changes.

 
PCOS seems to run in families, so your chance of having it is higher if other women in your family have PCOS, irregular periods, or diabetes. PCOS can be passed down from either your mother's or father's side.

 
 
Sounds fun doesn't it. It does make me feel better that the symptoms that I do have, and thankfully I don't have that entire list, aren't just in my head. In additional to the list there are several other issues that can come along with PCOS. From what I'm understanding the biggest issues seem to all be triggered by the insulin resistance. It seems to be the root of all this evil that is going on inside my body.

 
So now that I know what the issue is I'm attempting to change my ways and not allow it to rule my world. In my typical style I've researched and headed to the book store. I've got my highlighter on standby but so far I've resisted. I've plowed through the book on PCOS and I'm sure I'll be rereading and highlighting the parts I need to remember. I think its a good sign that I'm ready to figure all of this out. I hope that I have some success with the weight loss because long term motivation is hard if there are no results. One of the nice parts of having the Dr involved is that I have an appointment with the nutritionist scheduled and my insurance will cover a few visits. In my research I understand that one of the best things I can do is drastically reduce carbohydrates and always pair complex carbohydrates with a lean protein. This sounds simple enough so I dove straight in. I am trying really hard to give up white sugar, white bread, white rice, potatoes, soda and all processed garbage. So I've had success since Saturday and that did include movie night at the church potluck. Let me tell you I'm pretty proud of myself for resisting the huge tub of red licorice and gummy bears and the rest of the sweets at the end of the buffet line. I've been reading a lot about the Eat Clean Diet with Tosca Reno. The principles are in line with the insulin resistant diet and then have a lot of extra. I can't go from eating a variety of garbage to eating totally Clean but it does give me some nice guidelines and goals. 3 liters of water a day is going to take some time before it doesn't feel like I'm trying to drown myself. I did have a latte this afternoon but other than that I haven't had any processed sugar in 3 days. That alone is pretty huge in my world.

Here is the part where all of you come in to the picture. I need all of you to help force me to stay accountable. I need you to be my willpower when I run low. I need you to ask me to go for a walk or if I've been on a walk. I promise not to be grumpy but even if I am don't give up. Don't take my list of excuses but instead remind me that I need to get healthy.

 
I'm not brave enough to post my before picture with the after to go with it but maybe in a month or two I'll be feeling brave. I have a pretty bad full body shot from the lake this summer. Let's just say that swim suits are not flattering and how someone captured me on film in one I'll never know. EEWWW is all I have to say.

 
I'll say thank you in advance for all the support and encouragement. Your friendship means the world to me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, January 17, 2011

Marshmallow Fun!

I've been getting some grief from my friends about not posting for SOOO long.  Well I have to say in my defense I've been busy.  Busy playing and having fun!  Lots and lots of fun! 


I am not typically a crafty mom.  Rex has never been kid that is into crafty projects.  He much prefers to be throwing, kicking or catching any type of ball then sitting down to do a project.  I've been on a cooking jag lately.  I've always enjoyed cooking but I've tried a ton of new recipes and found  a  few new blogs that focus on cooking.  My current favorite is Our Best Bites.  It is written by two Mormon moms that have cooking in common.  I'm not sure that being Mormon has anything to do with it but they have a cute sense of humour and a TON of great recipes.  Well they also have very tempting pictures and the directions always make things seem so simple.  I was tempted by these pictures of home made marshmallows and decided they would make super cute valentine treats for the boys teachers.  So Friday evening after dinner, which included taco chicken from the same site, I started in to make marshmallows with the boys.  I quickly discovered that I forgot that I would need a candy thermometer and had to send Justin to the store.  So we approned up and started mixing. 



Riley cooks at school.  The Washington State University 4-H extension program sends the "cooking ladies" every other Thursday and they cook with the kids and learn about nutrition.  We've discovered one of the "cooking ladies" was Rex's Sunday school teacher last year so she knew all about Hurricane Riley.  Riley LOVES to cook.  He is very interested in mixing in ingredients and stirring.  We have to do this more often with recipes that require more help from Riley.  Honestly both boys had a ton of fun helping. 



Mixing up the corn starch and powdered sugar so we could dust the pan

We if anyone has ever made marshmallows before you know it takes a while and not exactly a project that you should start at 8pm.  We mixed our ingredients and start to wait for them to boil.  We waited and waited and waited some more for them to reach 240 degrees on our candy thermometer.  We had to fill the time so we made silly faces and danced and took pictures.

Mommy and her little man


BOIL ALREADY!

Shazaam


Is it ever going to be time to stir???


Dance break!




Even dad put on an apron and joined in the fun!
  Well the sugar mixture did finally get to the soft ball stage and we were able to mix it in and watch it turn to fluff.  My mom's old mixer that she had given me ages ago got a good work out fluffing our marshmallow fun.  I'm pretty sure that thing is as old as I am but it served us well. 



Rex wasn't quite done dancing when we started mixing!


Riley watched and watched as the mixture transformed into fluff!

We finally had it fluffy enough to pour into the pan and let it sit over night.  I'm not sure if it was because we were all tired and goofy or exactly why this project turned out so well.  We had a ton of fun and I may just do our next craft late at night to see if it works again???


The next morning we had to take the cookie cutters to our project to finish up. We choose hearts since we were testing it out for Valentines.  They turned out great.  The boys did a great job cutting out the shapes.  We made a lot of hearts to share and then cut up the scraps to save for our hot cocoa.  YUMMY!!!



 
Riley getting a little help from big brother!


Marshmallow fun!




Look at that concentration.

   We'll be sure to bring you more from the Kibbe Kitchen but for now we are signing out! 





Monday, January 3, 2011

Dance Dance Dance


Disregard the lovely outfit...  I'm guess it had something to do with wet pants
I'm keeping my eye on you bubba!

Happy New Year everyone!  I've been an absent blogger and it has been a completely wonderful vacation.  I was able to take almost two weeks off of work and Justin's plant had a two week shut down so we had a perfectly relaxing Christmas and New Years.  I had a ton of fun hanging out with friends and completing my 12 days of red wine project.  12 Days of red wine was a genius  idea of my friend Amy.  She tells her children that they have to try something 12 times before they decide if they like it or not so when I told her I wasn't a fan of red wine she decided I need to try it 12 times before I decided.  Well after a lot of discussion about whether that was 12 sips or glasses we settled on  the idea of12 bottles of red wine.  So I have tried and shared 12 bottles of red wine with friends.  I have definitely found I like some and could live with out others.  I'm a little sad this project is over and am pretty sure my wine testing adventure has just begun. 
We had a great time relaxing as a family over vacation.  Riley loved having Rex home every day.  He loves pretty much everything that Rex does including a new found love of headphones.  Both boys have always been huge music kids but headphones are a new addition for Riley. 

Here's to hoping that we all have a great dance in 2011. 


Dance Dance Dance

Rockin it out!