Self-Care September

Hello Cysters!!! Welcome to PCOS Awareness Month! 

As women we are sometimes expected to be super human and taking care of ourselves can be made into a lower priority when there is so much to do! Further more, as women with a chronic illness, taking care of ourselves can be an overwhelming task at times. For the past 2 months, and even more intensely in the past two weeks, I have given more focus into what it actually means to really take care of yourself, by actually putting those skills into practice and working towards giving up the toxic thought that I have to be more that what my body can handle. I have learned so much from some wonderful teachers who I will talk about more this month, but I thought it was important that I started sharing the techniques that have been working for me so others can feel the great benefit of self-care. Let's kick it off with tip #1!!! 

Check back here and on social media to see more tips though out the month. See how many things you can do to take care of yourself and let us know what is working best for you!

Have a wonderful day and be kind to yourself!

💗 Jennifer

New PCOSAA Article! Learning From the Pain

Hello everyone! Pain is something that women with PCOS live with everyday, but are you listening to your pain? Check out my brand new article on PCOSAA.org on how pain led me to a PCOS diagnosis.

 Click here to read the brand new article - Learning From the Pain

I am also introducing some new artwork as well! ACTUAL live footage of my uterus during menstruation... SCARY!!!!!

I hope the rest of your weekend brings you joy and comfort! 

💗 Jennifer

The Story of Glucose

One of the things my doctor monitors the closest is my A1C level, which tells her if I am at risk of or if I have diabetes. 2nd to cancer, diabetes is one of the scariest things when it comes to PCOS health risks. Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance, therefore many of them are prescribed a medication called metformin. I have opted out of taking metformin and decided to learn about my body and treat it naturally. (But that doesn't mean it doesn't work for others, I am happy it is available for those who need it and benefit from it) I think it is scary to me because I never really quite understood insulin and what it does in the body, and the only way I can convince myself I know what is going on, is to write a story about it... 

You see, in the world of your body, there is a gym called The Muscle and Fat Gym. It is pretty exclusive, only the sweetest Glucose Clients are able to attend the gym. Membership requires you to use an Insulin Personal Trainer. In fact, Glucose Clients cannot even attend The Muscle and Fat Gym without their Insulin Trainer accompanying them. Then one day some gluttonous suit at the corporate office of The Muscle and Fat Gym decided that the gym shouldn't be so exclusive anymore. He was like, "Hey, let's just let any Glucose Client in here, just think of all the money we will make, I LOVE SUGAR AHHHHHH!!!!" But the dumb ass kept the rules the same, each person still needed a high end Insulin Trainer. So for every Glucose Client they got, they had to hire another Insulin Trainer, Then the Insulin Trainers had to start taking on multiple clients, and the Pancreatic Offices where you hire Insulin Trainers was just flat out of Insulin Trainers one day. Eventually the current Insulin Trainers became overworked and quit. Now every time Glucose tries to get into The Muscle and Fat Gym, they are turned away because the rules are still "You must have a Insulin Trainer with you to enter." So Instead of going to the gym, Glucose Clients decided to turn around and go home via the bloodstream freeway... And that is why the 405 always sucks. Eventually The Muscle and Fat Gym closes down because of poor business management and you are carting your ass to Diabetesland. 

That's how I see it anyway... the point is keep your gym exclusive! Silly stories aside, diabetes is a serious condition and it must be monitored, or better yet prevented. Keeping an eye on your blood sugar levels can help you understand how your body reacts to food. Also look out for hidden sugar in things... especially carbs!!! Here is a link to actual medical information, because I really hope you are not getting your medical information from me. :)

Feed your muscle and fat with only the best fuel.

<3 Jennifer

http://www.diabetes.org/

My Big Creative Announcement!

Hi everyone! TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

I am so very excited to announce why I haven't posted in a while, why I keep telling all of you how excited I am, and why I have been so busy...

It is because I am one of the newest bloggers for PCOSAA.org!!!

A year or so back I started writing about my life with PCOS on Facebook and I ended up being pretty educational and maybe a  little funny in the process. I had a lot of fun with it, so I reached out to the PCOSAA, shared my writing them, started this blog, and now I am writing for an awesome non-profit organization who help bring awareness to PCOS... and I am so very happy to be a part of it!

My very first two articles have been posted and I am so excited to share them with my followers!!! You can read them at the links below...

Change - Transitioning to a Healthy Lifestyle with PCOS

I Can't Explain It - Learning to Talk About Your PCOS

Thank you all so much for the love and support during this creative journey of mine. Please leave your comments to tell me how you like the articles and what you would like to hear about next.

Have a comforting and healthy weekend!
💗 Jennifer

My Vision Board - Facebook Post - Sept. 9th, 2016

Did you know that if you tell yourself something over and over again, eventually you will believe it? Chances are if you have used my bathroom, you have seen my vision board and have told me about your favorite image or saying on it. I love when people point something out about my vision board that they like, because that means that they looked at it and held on to a little piece of it. It’s like using my bathroom comes with a little motivational pep talk. The reason it is displayed in my bathroom is because that is where I get ready in the morning. When I look at myself in the mirror and think, damn, if I didn’t have PCOS maybe my hair would be thicker… then I turn my head to my vision board and it reminds me that I love PCOS because PCOS is a part of me, and I love me. Here is a picture of a section of my vision board. The words “LOVE PCOS” is now at the very top center of the board so it is not hidden. I encourage everyone who needs a reminder that they are awesome to make a vision board and put it somewhere in your house where you will see it every single day. You can make it anything you want… pictures, sayings, quotes, inspirational people… anything that makes you feel good. Continue to add to it as your goals in life evolve. It could even be fun to have a vision board party with your girlfriends where everyone brings a couple magazines to share with everyone to cut up. I know all this sounds corny, but it works because it is so important to take time for yourself to put your vision for your life on paper… or a board. It helps you visualize your goals… that’s probably why it is called a vision board. 

Dream big because you have the ability to visualize anything that is not even there yet.
💗 Jennifer

The Sunshine Vitamin - Facebook Post - Sept. 7th, 2016

It is very common for women with PCOS to become vitamin deficient. I am deficient in D & B12. Vitamins make me very nauseous, so it was awesome to find out that there are options. My Dr. changed me to a weekly dosage of D, and a dissolve-able tablet for B12 and it is now much more manageable. Being vitamin D efficient feels super awesome, so here is a link to a little article about the benefits of vitamin D to urge everyone to take their vitamins!

The Benefits of Vitamin D

Soak up the sunshine… or at least the sunshine vitamin! (Please note real sun is preferred) 

💗 Jennifer

My Fat Ass - Facebook Post - Sept. 6th, 2016

Today I want to talk about a struggle that a lot of women go through, and they don’t even have to have PCOS to go through it. Yep, I am going to be talking about my fat ass. It is very hard for women with PCOS to lose weight, and I will talk about why more in depth later this month, but this is more important. I can do something that lots of women can’t do, I can say right here confidently to everyone that I LOVE MY BODY!!!!!

My body has two legs and feet that allow me to walk my dog every day which is my favorite part of the day. My right hand can freaking DRAW! How cool is that! My freaking eyes see color, I would never know what the colors pink and green looked like if my eyes couldn’t see color. My voice box works, it may not sound pretty, but I can sing to my favorite songs. Not only that, I can hear them with my ear holes!!! I am so lucky to have this body.

Beauty standards can really kiss my fat ass. I have been a lot skinnier than I am now, but it didn’t make me happier. I did not become happy until I started loving myself for exactly who I am. I am full figured, get over it. It doesn’t mean I am lazy or that I stuff my face with gross food. I walk, I run, I know how to freaking kick box okay. I eat balanced meals (unless there are French Fries) and I nourish my body with natural materials. I have been on many diets before and I will never go on one again. I do not count calories and never will again. I listen to my body and fuel it when it needs fuel and stop when it’s almost full. 

Now there will be times where you will see me skinnier, it’s because when my endocrine system is in balance, weight loss becomes easier. The thyroid is functioning properly, so my normal daily activates will burn more calories than when I am out of balance. So if you see me losing weight, it is NOT because I want to be skinnier. It is because I am successfully balancing out my endocrine system. So instead of telling me I look good, congratulate me on my hard work, because honestly, I always look good. 😉 :

Love your body today because it is the only vessel in this life that your soul has.

💗 Jennifer

SO Tired - Facebook Post - Sept. 5th, 2016

I have had a pretty big, fun, exciting week in both work and play, so I thought it only appropriate to talk about fatigue today, because I am freaking tired! The hormone cortisol is produced by the adrenal gland and it controls homeostasis of your body, basically keeping things in balance. If you’re hot, you sweat to cool. If you’re cold, you shiver to warm. It’s an essential part of keeping your body alive. It’s called the stress hormone because it releases when the body is under stress in hopes that it will regulate. Sometimes it works too much, because remember my adrenal gland does what it wants, and sometimes it never really goes back to normal so you always feel in a constant state of stress. This makes your body work and work to try and make you de-stress and then you end up exhausting your adrenal gland and it’s like “Sorry, no more cortisol for you… you sleep NOW.” Any time of day, you give me a pillow, chances are I could sleep. But it is not just that I am tired, it’s fatigue. It also comes with brain fog, so co-workers, you now know why I become 10% less useful between the hours of 3-4. That’s the worst time of day for me... I believe they call it “nap time” in pre-school. The best way for me to fight this is to make sure I keep regular sleeping habits and I get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. I like using my mind and I want to be rested so that I can use it at the best of my ability. Thankfully today is a holiday and a movie day, so it will be very relaxing… and I might even take a nap this afternoon too. 

Wishing you and your body a good night’s rest tonight. 
💗 Jennifer 

This week's featured story: UP IN DA UTERUS CLUB

The female reproductive system is pretty fantastic. We fucking create life. Think about that. Inside of our bodies, things happen all in sync to create another actual human being. Pretty cool right? Here’s what happens if we don’t create life that month. See, the ovaries are like home base, the egg is at home and she gets a call from her girl like “Hey lady, you need a man! Let’s go to the club!” Men, if you think we take a long time to get ready, that little egg works on her make-up and hair and outfit aaallllll month just to look good for you.

They are all ready to go and she travels down the Bentley Fallopian Tube to the Uterus Club in hopes that the spermy men will be there waiting for her, wiggling around fighting each other for the one special egg to fertilize and begin the process of creating life together. Typical men all fighting for one girl, but we love it when you fight for us.

The egg arrives and there are a lot of nice tissue men there, but it’s not the spermy ones she likes. The tissue is like “Hey girl! I know you’re here for your spermy men, but come hang in the VIP section for a while, we made it special just for you. It’s nice and cozy here, we’ll buy you a drink while you wait, and when they get here you can snuggle up together in our fluffiness!” But after a few drinks she thinks to herself, “You know, I don’t have time for this, this place is really nice but there are no sperm anywhere!!!” So she’s like, “Bye Felicia!” Now the uterus, oh the uterus. Not only is the uterus the actual club, but it also acts as the over protective, pissed off, club bouncer. When the spermy men don’t show for the egg, it’s like “Dudes, this VIP egg traveled all the way over here to this awesome venue filled with nice fluffy tissue that I invited to keep her company, and these sperms are a no show? Fuck this! Everyone out! I worked all month on this place and it’s all for nothing. Every tissue in here, Get. The. Fuck. Out. And if you don’t I am going to shove your asses out.” All the tissue is like, “Nah, she is gonna be back, chill dude, the sperms are gonna show, let’s just drink more champagne and text Derek to come on by too.” So Derek comes by and brings like 10 of his friends, and the uterus is like “I told your asses to GET OUT!!!!! RRRROOOOOOAAARRRR!!!!!! Then it starts convulsing and all the tissue is like “Oh damn, this is some real shit, let’s roll out”. And that, men, is how a period happens.

Mine happens a little differently. My uterus still kicks all of the tissue out once a month but it’s for different reasons. Instead of getting mad, it kinda gets sad. It works and works and works to make a viable venue for my VIP to sit relax and meet some men. Then it waits and waits and waits for the VIP egg to show up. But she never shows. So my uterus is like “let’s keep inviting nicer and fluffier tissue and maybe she will show up.” But she never does. Even if sperm were to show too, they would not find the VIP. Eventually the uterus has so much fluffiness inside that it can’t contain itself, comes to the realization that she is not coming to the club, and gives up. It completely trashes the place and clears everyone out in an emotional outburst, “Nothing I do is ever good enough for her!!!” But once that is over and the place is empty, it stops, takes a few deep breaths and realizes it is too young to give up. It starts over fresh, making a nicer, fluffier venue in hopes that the VIP will show up next time around. Where are the eggs you ask? Instead of turning into a VIP egg and going to the Uterus Club in the Bentley Fallopian Tube, she stayed at home in the ovary and turned into a sad sack cyst month after month. But my ovaries don’t give up either! Every month they still try to make a VIP, it’s just that most months she never shows up to the club. Woman with PCOS may not ovulate but can still menstruate. FML right? The key is to get that VIP out to the club, so I am hoping that one day my hard work will give my VIP enough confidence to show up. I never gave up on anything before, so why start now right?
💗 Jennifer 

What is Wrong with me? - Facebook Post - Sept. 2nd 2016

Today I share a fact from the PCOS Nutrition Center. The fact that PCOS receives so little funding to study the syndrome makes it hard to understand, therefore it is commonly misdiagnosed. Before finding my doctor (who knew what it was right away), I went through so many tests because previous doctors did not connect the dots to all my symptoms. I was thought to have a hernia once, then it was celiac, then probably endometriosis. Cat-scans didn't show anything. Then I kept feeling like it was all my fault. It must be my shampoo that is causing my hair to fall out, so I bought something better. It must be the face cream I am using that is causing my acne, so I bought something different. I must not be exercising hard enough, so I would run an extra mile. All this pain is because I didn't stretch, so I took an extra yoga class. I am just emotional… ugh, whatever. It was exhausting. Then one day I experienced a doctor not believing the symptoms I was reporting. I felt so alone because no one knew what I was going through, even me. When I finally sat down with Dr. Lina Shammas, D.O., (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) after meeting her only once before, she pulled out 14 pages of blood work and said “I wanted you to come in because I want to tell you exactly is going on.” She drew pictures and went over numbers and explained to me how everything connected… everything. Then I started crying and she took my hand and said “You are not broken, you can do this.” She is so special to me because not only does she have the answers, she believes in me. 
We are fighting against low funds, so put in the effort to find someone who has the knowledge of the disease you are fighting. They are one in a million, but it is worth it.

Don’t forget to love yourself, because you too, are not broken.

💗Jennifer

Marion O'Varion