Thinking of you all

For many people, Christmas is a time to celebrate and spoil their children.

For those of us without children, it is a day tinged with sadness.  Perhaps you have withdrawn completely from your family and friends because it is too painful to see the babies and children being fussed over, when you know that they aren't yours.

My third pregnancy was due on Christmas Eve 2007, and if that child had been born he/she would have been here celebrating with us today.

My heart goes out to every one of you who has never conceived, or has miscarried, or has suffered a stillbirth.  We have never been able to share the joy that others are experiencing as parents today.  I wish I could put my arms around you all.

Much love and hope for the coming year xo

Belinda

Supplements

I have had so much going on in life and not enough money to afford any more than the basic costs of living.  As a result my health has been waaaay down the priority list for far too long.  This year my PCOS/Endo symptoms have become alot worse and my weight is out of control.

Now that I am in a better place financially, I have started to implement many of the principles of the Gabriel Method again and also throw in a few of my own ideas.  I have been reading up on some really important stuff and  have invested in some great supplements that are known to benefit anyone who is suffering from the awful symptoms of PCOS or Endo, or is struggling with excess weight.

Omega 3

Fish oil is really important to anyone who is trying to lose weight.  I specifically say fish oil, not just "Omega 3", because there are many TYPES of Omega 3 fatty acids.  Some are found in seeds such as linseed/flaxseed and chia (the two most easily obtainable from health food stores), however these contain a fat known as ALA.

The issue with ALA is that our bodies need to convert ALA into a "longer chain" fatty acid called EPA (the one found in fish/krill oils).  However, we need to make sure we are getting other things into our diet to be able to convert the ALA into EPA efficiently.  So it is much easier to take fish/krill oil instead.

Also, I believe you would need to take alot of linseed or chia to get the equivalent amount of Omega 3, so it would require alot of measuring and, if you are taking linseed, you need to grind it before consumption otherwise the seeds may not digest properly.  Chia seeds, if you do take them, are expensive and they require alot of water to help digest them.  The up side of chia seeds is that you can sprinkle them over a salad, bake them in bread or muffins, or you can blend them up in a smoothie.  They are very small, like poppy seeds, which makes it easier for them to break down in your gut.

I am taking 6000mg of fish oil a day, but I may scale it down as I read somewhere recently that while we are getting too much Omega 6 (from processed/fatty foods), trying to take MORE Omega 3 isn't necessarily a good thing.  If we can cut down the processed foods then we shouldn't need to overdose the Omega 3.  I am eliminating it as much as possible, obviously we can't avoid Omega 6 completely.

Vitamin E is really important to supplement when taking fish oil because Omega 3 can deplete it, so if you are taking fish oil then make sure you are taking a Vitamin E supplement with it (unless the fish oil capsule you are taking already has Vitamin E in it).

DIM/I3C

I have posted about DIM/I3C in the past and I truly believe that this supplement is important for anyone who is suffering from an excess of oestrogen.  Oestrogen is made in our fat cells, so if you are overweight then the chances are that you have an excess of oestrogen.

My personal experience of oestrogen excess has been:

Fluid retention
Weight gain (mostly around the abdomen, bottom and thighs)
Sugar and carb cravings
Decreased sex drive
Foggy thinking
Heavy/irregular bleeding
Miscarriage
Abnormal blood clotting
PCOS
Endometriosis

And they are just the obvious ones!

Serrapeptase

I posted about this supplement back in June this year.

Serrapeptase digests (dissolves) non-living tissue such as blood clots, cysts, arterial plaque and inflammation.  Endo sufferers may find that it heals scarring caused by adhesions where the endometrial tissue has formed on organs outside the uterus.

It is always important to buy a serrapeptase supplement that has an "enteric coating".  This simply means that the supplement won't be destroyed in the gut but will break down once it reaches the intestines.

So they are my "big 3" supplements.  I am waiting for the Serrapeptase and DIM/I3C to arrive from the USA (cheaper to buy it online and ship it, unless I can find a cheaper supplier in Australia).

Oestrogen excess

The signs and symptoms of oestrogen excess may include any of the following:

In women:

PMS
Fatigue
Fluid retention and abdominal bloating
Weight gain, especially in lower body which is hard to lose
Mood swings/Weepiness
Depression/Sadness – esp. before a period
Anxiety and irritability – esp. before a period
Insomnia – esp. before a period
Accelerated ageing
Frequent thrush
High blood pressure
Sugar and Carbohydrate craving
Decreased sex drive
Foggy thinking
Dry eyes
Fibroids
Fibrocystic breasts/Breast tenderness
Gall bladder problems
Premenstrual headaches and migraines
Heavy or irregular bleeding
Infertility
Miscarriage – esp. in first trimester
Osteoporosis
Low thyroid function
Abnormal blood clotting
PCOS
Auto-immune disorder (e.g. Lupus)
Breast cancer
Endometriosis
Endometrial cancer (uterine cancer)

In Men, excess oestrogen can cause any of the following signs or symptoms:

Fatigue, Insomnia
Hair loss
Headaches
Weight gain
Fluid retention and abdominal bloating
Anxiety, Irritability, Depression
Breast enlargement
High blood pressure
Carbohydrate craving
Diminished sex drive
Foggy thinking
Dry eyes
Gall bladder problems
Osteoporosis
Low thyroid function
Abnormal blood clotting
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
Prostate cancer

http://www.earthmedicine.com/high-oestrogen-levels-can-seriously-affect-our-health

Slight change of plans

Well since my last post I was struggling with my desire to go back to Australia and see my friends and family (it had been 2 years since I last saw them) or stay in the UK and try to find a job.

Australia won.

I figured now is the best time to go because if I get a good job then it would be at least a year before I can take a reasonable holiday to go home.

I have been in Aus for a month now.  WORST TIME OF YEAR TO BE HERE!

It is sooooo hot, 40 degrees celcius yesterday and it wasn't even officially summer!

I moved to the UK for a reason, that is, the cooler climate.  I have never enjoyed the summer in Australia, not even as a child.  I think that the older I get, the less I am able to cope with the heat.

Ah well....  my parents aren't getting any younger so I have to make the most of it really.

So until I return to the UK (hubby is still there), any plans to TTC are on hold.  I am looking at getting some Traditional Chinese Medicine and have been recommended a practitioner close to where I am living.  She claims to have had good results for women who have Endo and PCOS.  I will post again when I have started treatment to let you know what is being done and how it is working for me.

Bit of an update

Sadly, I lost my job a couple of weeks ago.  It seems that my employer wasn't at all tolerant or understanding of my PCOS/Endo and the fact that I had to lose time off work due to the unpleasant symptoms.

Add to that the nasty bout of diarrhoea that lasted a full week and caused me to lose 2 days off work as well.

I am going to find out what action I can take against my employer as I had been given reassurance that I wouldn't lose my job because of the time I lost with my PCOS/Endo symptoms.

At the same time, I am feeling quite philosophical about it and believe that there is a reason this has happened so I am focusing on finding a job with a great employer who has compassion and understanding and also a job that gives me greater fulfilment!

Healthwise...  mmm... well, I guess I should be taking better care of myself.  I have lost a bit of confidence since losing my job so I have been comfort eating, mainly chocolate which is my biggest weakness.  I know it isn't helping me, in fact eating a high carb diet only increases my oestrogen levels and affects other hormones which makes it too easy to gain weight.

Yucky

I have not been feeling well these last two weeks.

First, a horrible bout of diarrhoea that saw me lose 1kg (2.2 lbs) in a week, all of which I have probably gained back by now.  I don't have scales at home so I can't be sure.  I only weigh myself at work if I get a chance.

Second, my period showed up as soon as the diarrhoea had passed.  Well, I can't complain too much because I had a 28 day cycle this time which is a very rare thing!

Third, I think I have some kind of infection or sty growing inside my bottom eyelid, it had been stinging for a couple of days but I couldn't see anything until this morning. 

So I have been feeling alot of physical stress recently and just haven't been interested in blogging.

Weighing in!

Hello readers (and I know you are out there, but so far too shy to say hi back!),

Just thought I'd update you all on my progress so far using the Gabriel Method.

It has now been 7 weeks since I started to implement some of Jon's recommendations

• Live food (fruit & veg)
• Protein (in the form of eggs, meat or whey protein)
• Omega 3's (either in fish or supplement form);
• drinking filtered water with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice
• listening to his evening meditation track most nights (sometimes I know I am just too tired to put my headphones on, or conversely, I start to get too restless because I am being distracted from sleep); 
• posting a picture of (what I consider to be) my ideal body on the wall next to my bed and looking at it every day

Yesterday I stepped on the scales for the first time in 7 weeks and despite the fear of what I might see, I was happy to be able to record a loss of.....

1.6kg

I know, not a huge amount right?

But hey, what more can I expect, considering that I only implemented a few recommendations, did absolutely no exercise because I didn't feel any desire to (remember, Jon says don't force yourself to exercise, only start to do it when your body FEELS that it wants to), and I didn't always eat the most healthy choices.  My husband is going through a phase of baking all kinds of delicious brownies, cakes and cheesecakes, so I have been going through some demonic carb cravings.

So imagine what I could achieve if I up the ante and start incorporating a few more things to my routine?

I am yet to cut dairy out of my diet (hello?  Cheesecake?!) which I know is a REALLY important thing to do.  Some friends have recommended that I look into the Paleo Diet (I don't want to switch from the GM to Paleo, but just be more informed and then incorporate some of the Paleo knowledge so that I tailor my eating to suit my body's needs).

Sorry, if I sound like I am rambling, it's probably due to lack of sleep and also a bout of illness that has knocked me down for a couple of days.