Power Up for PCOS: January 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013

TTC Thursdays

It worked!!! I'm Pregnant!!!!!!! I'm so excited and happy!!! It is very early still in the pregnancy, I will be 6 weeks along on Friday. Although most people say you should wait 3 months, we learned after our son was stillborn at 7 months that you are never safe, therefore we are sharing this news and enjoying every minute of this pregnancy! I am considered high risk for this pregnancy since my son was stillborn, but it means they will watch me very closely this time, which is a good thing. We already have done 3 blood tests to ensure my numbers were doubling and we had our 1st ultrasound on Monday and the baby was right where it should be for how far along we were. We are going to be followed by a regular doctor as well as a high risk doctor. So after 8 years and 7 months of trying and our only pregnancy resulting in our son being stillborn, we are now pregnant with our 2nd child! I love Pregnitude!!! I would be the spokesperson for them if they wanted. We were actually getting to the point of starting to give up hope, the first 2 months I didn't ovulate and we were getting nervous that we were wasting time. Then on my 3rd month, I ovulated, which was a miracle and then we got pregnant, a double miracle!!! I just can't believe it. I have never ovulated on anything besides Clomid before. I am considered anovulatory and I ovulated and got pregnant on Pregnitude. It is a miracle supplement. I think everyone with PCOS who is trying to conceive should consider giving it a chance, just check with your doctor first to make sure it is safe for you to be on it, it does interact with some medications and things. If it could work for me after 8 years and 7 months, my hope is it would work for you too. So my message is never give up hope, we almost did. There is always hope, keep trying, take Pregnitude, eat healthy, exercise, track your ovulation (we use ovulation predictor kits), and time your TTC. I am wishing you all lots of luck in your TTC and hoping to hear about many more Pregnitude babies. This could be a miracle supplement for women with PCOS.

Disclaimer: Please note that Pregnitude is an official sponsor of Power Up for PCOS 5K. However, the individual listed below is not affiliated with Pregnitude or a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. Power Up for PCOS posted a request for someone starting Pregnitude to blog their personal experiences for the Power Up for PCOS blog. This should not be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor for further information.*

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS which provides support to women with PCOS and their families through educational Power Up Groups, building connections with other PCOS women, calendar of upcoming PCOS events, professional referrals and reviews, PCOS store, and other specialized events to raise money for PCOS research. She can be reached by visiting http://www.powerupforpcos.com, emailing Beth@powerupforpcos.com or by calling 810-545-PCOS (7267)

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

*Please note that I am not a medical professional. I am not qualified to give out any medical advice. I am a woman with PCOS who is sharing my personal experiences in this blog and I advise you to consult a professional.*

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Wellness Wednesdays: Toxic Beauty

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On my journey to living a healthier life I have tackled many of the basics. I started with nutrition – eating healthier and learning more about the sources of foods, pesticides, organics, GMOs, and how it can all disrupt your body. Next, I tackled the cleaning products arena. I made my own laundry detergent and cleaning products that are safer to use.

My next battle is what I put on my skin each day- makeup, as well as lotions and cleansers. Your skin absorbs much of what is put on it, including any nasty chemicals. I have put this off for quite a while as it is expensive to just trash your nasty products and replace them with better choices, but also to learn what is in my favorite beauty products was a scary thought. BUT, the time has come and I am going through them now. ::nervous sigh::

Here's a good video to help explain why you should be cautious with your makeup and other beauty product choices.

First I wanted to set some guidelines for myself so I knew what I was willing to put on my skin for the rest of my life, therefore making it evident what I was trashing and what to replace it with. Here are my guidelines:

I. Does not contain any of the “dirty dozen” ingredients:

1. BHA and BHT
2. Coal tar dyes
3. DEA
4. Dibutyl phthalate
5. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
6. Parabens
7. Parfum (a.k.a. fragrance)
8. PEG compounds
9. Petrolatum
10. Siloxanes
11. Sodium laureth sulfate
12. Triclosan

This ingredient list was created by a David Suzuki, a Canadian geneticist and founder of the David Suzuki foundation. This list contains many ingredients that cause cancer, reproductive and non-reproductive organ toxicity, and other health risks. Here is a link to his organization’s guide to the dirty dozen list. You can read more about each of these ingredients in more detail by following that link.

II. Toss any products that may interfere with my hormones. Since I have a hormone imbalance already (PCOS), I have to be extra-conscious of any ingredient that can make it into my body mimicking my natural hormones and causing things to get even more off track. These are called Endocrine Disrupters.

III. Rates a 3 or less on EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database. This database contains almost 10,000 personal care product ingredients and shares them on their website, along with ratings and concerns for each product. Most of my products were listed.

Here are my products I use regularly and how they rated against my guidelines:

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion = 2
Largest concerns were allergens.
Verdict: KEEP IT!

Epionce Milky Lotion Cleanser = 2
Largest concerns were allergens.
Verdict: KEEP IT!

Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara = 3
Largest concern – contains parabens (endocrine disruption)
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Jane Iredale Amazing Base (mineral foundation from dermatologist) = 7
Largest concerns – Cancer, organ toxicity (titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, dimethicone, etc)
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow = 4
Largest concerns = Cancer
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Neutrogena SkinClearing Blemish Treatment Foundation = 5?
This score is questionable as the old formulation was listed. Not sure if there is a difference to the current formulation.

Largest concerns = Biochemical/cellular level changes, endocrine disruption, cancer, organ toxicity (contains Retinyl Palmitate, Parabens)
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Clinique Long Last Lipstick = 5
Largest concerns – cancer, organ system toxicity, developmental/reproductive toxology (Glyceryl Rosinate, BHT)
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer = ?
This product was not in the database. Upon further investigation it has been found that this product contains nanoparticles. I was not able to obtain a complete list of ingredients and Clinique does not allow you to request a full list of ingredients anyways. You can only ask them about up to 4 ingredients per product. A little sketchy if you ask me. This is my FAVORITE product as I always have bags and dark circles under my eyes, as well as blemishes and it has never failed me. I hope I can find a good replacement.
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Clinique Quickliner = 4
Largest concerns – Neurotoxicity, cancer, organ system toxicity, possible endocrine disruption. (Aluminum Powder, BHT, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE)

This has always been my favorite eyeliner as well. Goes on SO smooth and easy to apply. I’ll be sad to see this one go.
Verdict: TRASH IT!

Burt’s Bees Replenishing Lip Balm = 2
Not a lot to worry about with this one except perhaps Castor Oil (can cause developmental/reproductive toxicity).
Verdict: KEEP IT! (or trash it, I’m not too attached to it)

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo = 4
Largest concerns = Fragrance – organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, cancer
Verdict: TRASH IT!

That's a lot of things to trash! It's a little scary too, knowing that I've been putting this junk on my body since around the age of 16.

Next week I'll talk about some options for replacing all of these things I've trashed. I've compiled a LOOONG list of possible companies, but still need to sort it out and read reviews, ingredient lists, etc. STAY TUNED!!

Written by: Crystal Warren, Representative for Power Up for PCOS which provides support to women with PCOS through educational Power Up Groups, building connections with other PCOS women, calendar of upcoming PCOS events, professional referrals and reviews, PCOS store, and other specialized events to raise money for PCOS research. To find our more, visit http://www.powerupforpcos.com, email info@powerupforpcos.com or by calling 810-545-PCOS (7267)

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wellness Wednesdays: 90-Day Challenge

I hope you had a wonderful holiday surrounded by family and friends. With the holidays comes lots of temptation for all the bad things that are horrible for our diets. I know I got a little off-track (I was also traveling for almost 3 weeks, so that didn't help at all) and am anxious to start off the year getting back into clean eating and an exercise routine again. Here's my plan for the first part of the year:

STEP 1-

Take the 90-day challenge - Blogilates.com is a free fitness/health website. Cassie is an energetic and wonderful coach who creates fun and unique workouts. I love it because of the variety of workouts (no getting bored!) and she has a monthly workout calendar to help you stay on track. Last January she started a 90-day challenge that included a food plan and workout plan. I'm normally skeptical of such "challenges", but I have already seen how Cassie has helped so many others and this plan is based on a clean eating diet and has a good amount of exercise - 1 hour 5-6 times a week.

Here's a link to the 90-day challenge.

I will begin this challenge on Monday, 1/7. I already know that I struggle doing these types of things on my own, I need the extra motivation from friends to keep me going, so I asked my Facebook friends to join me. So far I have two friends that have come on board. Accountability is SO IMPORTANT and I'm excited (and nervous) to get started! I have already printed out the meal plans and put them on my fridge. Nothing weird or gross in it, and there's a vegetarian and vegan option as well. I put up a motivational wall in my craft room/office/workout room to also help keep me motivated. 90 days is a LONG TIME so I need all the help I can get. :)

Here's what my motivational wall looks like right now:

(ignore the ugly tape, my OCD tendencies will probably take over soon to hide it all)

STEP 2-

Besides the 90-day challenge, I am also interested in starting my journey into the Paleo diet. I have read SO many good things about other ladies with PCOS or other hormonal imbalances who switched to eating Paleo and no longer have many of their symptoms, or they have decreased. Another perk to Paleo is that my meat-loving husband should still be happy. I already eat pretty clean, which is a huge part of Paleo, so going the next step should be pretty easy. I'm planning on starting this after my 90-day challenge which ends in April. I will write more about Paleo in a future post as I learn more and continue on that journey.

These two beginning steps should help to continue my PCOS-friendly eating habits, hopefully reduce my nasty PCOS symptoms, introduce a HABIT of exercising that will continue throughout the year and make my body feel good and more fertile.

What are your health goals for this year and how will you achieve them? Have you written down an action plan?

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS