After my diagnosis, I started intensely researching on the
Internet. I was looking for things that will help me ovulate, balance my
hormone levels etc. I popped on to a forum that I frequently use (shout out to
the Gentle Mothers!) and told them my story, and a few suggested that a low GI
diet is meant to help.
A diet? AGAIN?! That would be my 5th diet in 3
months. Although this time it would be for health reasons rather than to lose
weight. So I started to research and I came across this site, which put
everything I needed to know on one page.
The diet doesn’t seem too bad, it’s basically cutting back
carbs (booo!), and adding things such as lentils & pulses into my meals
(boooo, hisssss!!). But it’s not THAT drastic. We already eat pretty well, I
make sure that we have at least “5 a day”, often more. My son is a fruit
monster so there is always plenty of fresh fruit lying around the house (literally, and often
half eaten, but it still counts!).
I started meal planning; when I do chicken and pasta, I’ll
just have the chicken and veg without the pasta. It’s all very straight
forward. And then I had an epiphany.
Back when I was young
& reckless, I had a long-term boyfriend. This is the first and last time he’ll
be mentioned, I promise. Anyway, we were together for almost 4 years & frequently
had unprotected sex (sorry mum!!). I never fell pregnant, not once. We lived
together and I’d cook all the dinners; spag bol, lasagna, jacket potatoes. It
was all loaded with carbs. When we split, I was taken into hospital (totally
unrelated actually), I had really bad abdominal pains and was nil-by-mouth for
a week before they diagnosed me with a grumbling appendix. I lost about a stone
in that week, and I felt great. So when I got out, my best friend and I went on
a health kick. I wanted to be really slim and healthy. We cut carbs, went to
the gym, and generally were as good as we possibly could be with our eating
habits (I promise, this story has a point!). We would sometimes bung fish fingers in the
oven, but 6 days of the week we would have protein and veg with not a lot else.
We wouldn’t eat sweets, or have a lot of sugar with our drinks. Looking back, I
have realised that we were on an accidental low GI diet (see, told ya there was
a point!).
This health kick/diet went on for a few months. Over this
time, I “reconnected” with a guy I’d fancied a LOT during the years of Uni. Our 3rd
year had started, we all worked at the same club, and very quickly this
relationship.....blossomed. My Luke. 2 weeks into our relationship I fell
pregnant.
Was this diet related?? Was PCOs something I’d had for a
long time??
I think that the abdominal pain that I went to hospital for
was my ovaries, not my appendix. Since I was about 18, I’ve had this pain. It’s
possible that it was cysts growing in my right ovary. That would explain how I
never fell pregnant during the 4 years of unprotected sex. And how quickly I
fell pregnant after being on a Low GI Diet.
I’m sorry if this post is a bit mish-mashed. It’s all a bit
confusing but I may have found an answer. No, I can’t cure polycystic ovarian
syndrome, but I sure as HELL can spread the word about this diet. I’m going to
give it another go, not to fall pregnant, but to see if it changes my symptoms.
Anyone that’s reading this that suffers, maybe it’s worth a
try?
LESSON WE’VE LEARNT:
Diets aren’t always great for getting skinny.
Just one note about PCOS and the low carb diet.... for women with PCOS it has to be a lifestyle change for the long haul. Embrace the meats girl - they are here to stay!
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