Prior to I supplementation, those PCOS patients were olygomenorrheic, menstruating one or twice a year. As of the writing of this article

I also agree about vitamin D – I take cod liver oil in the winter, and in the summer I avoid sunscreen unless I’m going to be out more than an hour. I have fair skin, too. I usually start out gradually in the spring, with 10 minutes of exposure, then work up to an hour. I try very hard not to burn, but I don’t mind a few freckles.

My endo does prescribe metformin for some of her patients, but we agreed that low-carb is working fine to manage my PCOS. This might not work for everyone, though.

I hope you find my site useful, and I hope you keep coming back.

Conveniently, a gram of water equals a milliliter. So without drinking anything at all, I’m getting nearly a half a liter of water with lunch. Supposing breakfast and dinner are the same, I’ve taken care of 1.5 l of my 2.7 l requirement without drinking a drop. This would suggest that drinking 4 or 5 glasses of water, rather than 8, should be sufficient for me.

Of course, if you eat a giant bagel rather than a giant salad, you’re getting only 42 g of water.

I agree with you about Snopes – they are not perfect. (They think Coke is harmless, for example.) I posted the link to show that a skeptical attitude can be valuable.

http://www.iom.edu/?id=18495&redirect=0

It was scientific guidelines published in 2004. And it includes the amount of water in food, so be careful when you’re doing math.

Snopes is not the best source of information in the world. If you Google the names of the scientists they quote and backtrack their info, you often find out more information about the subject. Websites are great, but you still have to think for yourself.

I put on weight when I had ovarian cysts 7 years ago, and no doctor did anything about it. Didn’t even advise me what I should do about it. No recriminations, though, this is about the here and now. Now I am a perfect, textbook specimen of metabolic syndrome, despite eating right and exercising. Though, I will admit that if I have too many carbs, I will have cravings I can’t control and get off track briefly. Still, my weight has not changed from 225-255 lbs in 7 years, usually around 235.

I threw away my large plates, and only use the large bowls for salads and soups. That’s my major victory over the social conditioning I’ve experienced toward eating more than I should.

I learned to “kosher” and then roast whole turkey breasts, and rediscovered the deliciousness of baked ham. And now I ask myself, why do I have to have a side of potato? Why not salad with crutons? (I’m not totatlitarian enough to cut out all carbs.)

I switched from Ben and Jerry’s to Bryer’s – for some reason, it doesn’t set off my dairy intolerance and I find I can eat less of it and it doesn’t set off a craving fit. Probably all that air they fluff it up with. Whatever, as long as it works.

Watching my pain level also works for me. I will eat for comfort during pain. I have learned to keep my pain level in check after an illness. I don’t let cold symptoms run wild, and I don’t “tolerate” headaches anymore. Those are the times I eat the worst. Then, I go out at lunch time and buy mac and cheese from the convenience store, and follow it with chocolate and coffee/hot chocolate. If you have frequent headaches, there is hope, you just have to keep bugging the doctor until he sends you to a neurologist, “the pain clinic” or gives you a beta-blocker.

I make no apologies for what I do when I’m in pain. I’m irrational when hurt and you would be too. The goal is to keep pain levels low. Or if you aren’t aware of the pain level you’re tolerating, because you’ve ignored it so long, the goal is to become aware of your pain, then have it dealt with properly.

Same deal with sleep. If I can’t sleep, or it’s not quality sleep, I am extra hungry. Wierd, but true.

In short, my body has to feel basically good: teeth brushed so they don’t “itch”, sleeping well, pain level 2 or less, good circulation because I’m exercising, etc..

The only other thing that helps keep hunger away for me is tanning. I didn’t know this until recently but tanning ups your serotonin level just like antidepressants. I did know it develops vitamin D in your skin, which is better than trying to get your stomach to absorb Vitamin D, which helps Calcium to absorb, and therefore helps with weight loss and osteoporosis. I tan for 6 minutes once a week. I usually have a harder time sleeping that night because my serotonin level is higher. I used to wonder why that happened. Tanning that little doesn’t change my skin color, but it affects my nerves and Vitamin D level. If I lived in a warmer place I’d probably not bother, and just go in the sun. For some reason I’m a lot less hungry for a few days after I tan.

If you’ve got ovarian cysts and/or metabolic syndrome, you may be able to convince your doc to give you insulin-sensitizing drugs. Look for a clinic in Chicago that is doing this for PCOS patients.

Elizabeth, please always feel free to speak your mind on this blog. I agree with you that it’s nonsense to suggest that weight loss is all in one’s head. If you haven’t read Gary Taubes’ book, you might find it interesting – he talks a great deal about how that myth of “perverted appetite” started in the scientific community and has become all pervasive. The book gives me hope that we might one day be able to give up on the idea that obesity is a moral problem (i.e., fat people are lazy gluttons) and concentrate on it as a metabolic disorder that is treatable with carb restriction. As far as caffeine goes, I think the theory is that caffeine can cause an insulin spike in some people – I am fairly sure I am one of them. But the point of this post is that we’re all a little different, and if you can consume caffeine without harm, there’s no reason to cut it out.

Miss Bossy – Lean Cuisine is part of my argument that low-carb doesn’t have to be more expensive than low-fat. An LC entree can cost as much as 50 cents an ounce! Chicken legs, on the other hand, cost about 12 cents an ounce. And I don’t know about you, but I was never satisfied with just one LC entree – I’d always end up eating one and chasing it with several Snackwells, or even eating two entrees!