What I am though, is tired of letting my symptoms dictate my life. So it's time to change. What you see here is my step one. I am REALLY good at starting things, so I might as well go with my strengths. So I'm starting here and now, a hacking program.
Hacking is the process of circumventing a system's normal order in order to maximize results. In a negative term, computer hackers break down the walls of security in a network to carve out chunks of information. We can hack our life too, in a positive way. We can look at new and clever ways to accomplish our tasks using non-standard tools. So I figure, if you can hack computers, if you can hack life, surely you can hack PCOS.
First, before I go any further, I want to mention that I am not a medical professional. I am merely doing research online (hopefully from reputable sources) and then applying what I learn in my life. I hope to share this journey with others, and hopefully together we can get our lives back from this disease.
So let's start at the beginning, with a definition of what we're fighting. The Mayo Clinic defines Polycyctic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) as a "common endocrine system disorder" that happens in women. One in ten women have PCOS. That is VERY common indeed. Symptoms of this disorder can include "Infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity." These are just the outward symptoms though. The internal issues boil down to endocrine problems, namely insulin resistance and hypothyroidism. These are the culprits that then spawn the outward symptomology, and these are what you have to look at combating.The problem is that insulin resistance causes weight gain and low energy. The excess fat cells create a hormone imbalance since they generate estrogen, and the more estrogen in your system, the more your hormones fall out of whack, which then leads to weight gain and low energy. These symptoms then further create acne, irregular periods and hair growth, and the cycle continues month after month. The trouble is that the treatment for this imbalance is weight loss and exercise, and when you have no energy exercise seems impossible.
This is where I sit right now, stuck at the mercy of hormone imbalance and sapped energy reserves. But I have knowledge of my opponent at last, and that means that I can plan my attack.
For years I have heard "just lose weight and you will cure your PCOS." Well, part of that is true, certainly, but focusing only on weight loss can easily lead to the trap of undernurishing your body, which then leads to even lower energy reserves. So instead I'm going to focus on increased movement, and let the weight lay where it chooses to.
That's not to say that I won't pay attention to what I put in my body, it's just that I am not going to allow the scale to dictate my success. I will instead look to body measurements, and overall energy levels as my progress markers. But more on this later.
Have you ever gotten excited about a project, only to realize that it's going to take longer than you thought? Well this project is going to take a lifetime, and I'm okay with that. If you are too, let's do it together. Communities breed success after all, and we all could use a little success in our lives.
