I know I Should Be Writing More

as opposed to copying and pasting articles I come across during my internet ramblings. I know, I know. I've been naughty with my blog. Bob is only now settled into a predictable routine so it's easier for me to sneak in some blogging time into my schedule. I'll try and make this quick because I fractured my left wrist and am mostly typing with one hand.

Dealing with PCOS post baby is very different to pre-baby because your main motivator has been achieved. I'm still trying to eat as healthily as I can. Slowly working up my fitness up to where I can do my aerobics every other day. I gave myself 6 months because that's meant to be how long you exclusively breastfeed for. And God knows breast feeding on demand is no piece of cake. I'm introducing solids gradually, like every other day. But his sole source of nutrient is still breast milk at the moment.

Lately though I've been having a host of symptoms (which I'll rant about in my next post) that suggest pregnancy or PCOS returning full force. Test came out negative so I'm keeping calm and carrying on. Started taking my multivitamins both to stem PCOS onslaught and not be caught unawares if I am pregnant.

I'll test again on Sunday, making it precisely a week later. If and this is a big fat IF I am preggers, there are a lot of things to consider.

Stay away from men to get pregnant

I couldn't wait share this:

Unbelievable yet true. Socially isolating a woman for three to six days from any male contact except her husband, after she has undergone in vitro fertilisation treatment or intercourse, increases the chances of conceiving from the usual 30 per cent to more than 50 per cent!
This is the finding of a research by fertility experts and geneticists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Indian Statistical Institute.

It is based on the fact that pheromones or smell hormones make all the difference and olfactory signals from too many males block implantation.

This bit of Indian research is a milestone in fertility treatment. Dr P.M. Bhargava, former founder-director of CCMB, who led the research, said, “This trait of social isolation affecting fertility was first observed in mice (Bruce Effect) in the 1960s. In the last few years, we carried out experiments on human beings and it turned out to be successful."

"Post IVF treatment, for three days, a woman should isolate herself from any kind of interaction with the opposite sex, except her husband."

"She shouldn’t meet, speak, touch or come in contact with any other man, not even blood relatives, during this period till the embryo is implanted in the wall of the uterus. The logic behind isolation is to avoid olfactory incompatibility with other men, which hampers implantation of the embryo and brings down fertility rate.”

Dr Kamini Rao, award winning fertility expert, who conducted the experiment on 1,700 women at the Bangalore Assisted Concep-tion Centre, said, “We isolated some women in hospital for three days, advised some to isolate themselves at home, which was easier to do in nuclear families.

The results were quite encouraging and even women who earlier had failed IVFs were able to conceive. Except the husband’s, pheromones from other males interfere with the implantation process and, therefore, the isolation is recommended.”

SOURCE - http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/others/stay-away-men-get-pregnant-951

I wouldn't just limit it to women who have undergone IVF but just women, generally, if you think you've OV it might help to stay away from other men.

Thanks to Beth Kiley  for sharing this new information. Make of it what you will, but when you are ttc, every little thing can make a world of difference. Check out her video here - http://personalpathtopregnancy.com/blog/?p=318

I subscribe to her Newsletter and would highly recommend you do so if you are TTC.

Good luck. 

Best Weight Loss Advice You've Never Heard - WebMD

Weight Loss Tip No. 1: Variety Is Overrated

Who hasn't heard the advice to "just take a bite of everything" if you're at a buffet?

But as it turns out, variety doesn't deserve its good reputation, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, a Chicago dietitian and author of The Flexitarian Diet.

 "We know that variety makes you eat more," she says, citing several published studies and her own experience in counseling weight loss patients.

For example, researchers in France found that study participants ate more french fries when they were offered catsup and mayonnaise along with them. And when they were given the option of having cream or whipped cream with their brownies, they ate more than when the brownies were offered plain.

Other researchers have found that people who have been able to maintain weight loss tend to eat diets with limited variety.

Weight Loss Tip No. 2: Have Barley for Breakfast

"Barley is the new oatmeal," says Jackson Blatner.

Barley got its hunger-fighting reputation after Swedish researchers found that eating barley or rye kernels for breakfast kept blood sugar on an even keel. That's because the carbs in barley and rye kernels are "low glycemic index," meaning they raise blood sugar more slowly than some other carbohydrate foods. This helps you avoid a spike, and then a drop, in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling famished.

One caveat: "Buy hulled barely, not pearl barley," Jackson Blatner says. The Swedish researchers used minimally processed hull barley, and they can't vouch for the same effects for more processed forms, such as pearl barley.

Weight Loss Tip No. 3: Beef Up Your Lunch Salad

One of the most common mistakes dieters make is to eat a vegetable salad with little or no dressing for lunch, says Joan Salge Blake, RD, professor of nutrition at Boston University and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Then they are starving by mid-afternoon," she says.

A salad is a great choice, she says, if you add some protein and a little fat to help keep you feeling full longer.

Top your greens with a 3 oz piece of chicken breast, and you've added about 26 grams of protein but just 140 calories. Add about two tablespoons of light salad dressing, and your salad may be filling enough to get you through the 3 p.m. hunger slump without hitting the vending machine.

Weight Loss Tip No. 4: Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables

Sure, fresh vegetables are delicious and nutritious. But faced with the need to scrape a carrot, wash and slice a zucchini, or cut broccoli into florets, many of us say, "Too much trouble!" and reach for chips  instead.

To make things easier, stock your freezer with frozen vegetables, Blake tells dieters.

"They are already clean, chopped and ready to cook in the microwave,"* she says. "It's like having Rachael Ray in the freezer."

An even better way to be sure you eat more vegetables: Cook the frozen veggies ahead of time. Microwave the whole bag of green beans, for instance. Then keep them in the refrigerator, ready to dump into canned soups, add to a salad, or just eat by the handful.

Weight Loss Tip No. 5: Make Yourself a Party Tray

The type of party tray Jackson Blatner is talking about is a big vegetable platter, maybe with some low-fat dip on the site -- the kind you put on the buffet for weight-conscious guests. 

But this one is just for you and any interested family members. Keep it in the fridge at eye level, encouraging you to snack healthy and avoid the higher-calorie contents of your refrigerator. 

Several studies have found that we tend to eat more when food is within easy reach. Secretaries who placed candy on their desks ate about 48% more than when the candy was 6 feet away, according to research by Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.

Weight Loss Tip No. 6: Turn Down the Thermostat

Spending time in a chilly house -- about 61 degrees Fahrenheit -- may boost the fat-burning power of the "brown fat" in your body.

Brown fat is considered "good" fat, as opposed to regular or white fat, which stores calories and tends to accumulate. Researchers believe that lean people have more of the brown type of fat, and that the amount of brown fat a person has declines with age.

Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to these chilly temperatures boosted the metabolic rate of brown fat 15-fold, helping burn more calories.

But Jackson Blatner cautions not to expect too much: "It's not going to be any kind of a miracle," she says. And beware if you're the type who eats more when you feel cold.

Weight Loss Tip No. 7: Downsize Your Dinnerware

Experts say they've seen it again and again: The larger your plate, the more you're likely to put on it. So serving your meals on smaller plates can help you eat less.

But don't throw out those dinner plates, Blake suggests. Use the smaller, lunch-size plates to serve dinner, and use the dinner plates for salads.

Weight Loss Tip No. 8: Go Out for Treats**

If you're the type who overdoes it on sweets and snacks, Jackson Blatner suggests, make yourself work a little for your favorite indulgences. Don't keep them in the house, but give yourself permission to go out and get them when you really need to.

Want a brownie? You have to go to the bakery. Craving a frozen yogurt? You must find the nearest frozen yogurt shop.

"The more hassle tasty treats are, the less likely you are to eat them," says Jackson Blatner, who does this herself and finds her sweets consumption has declined without making her feel deprived.

Weight Loss Tip No. 9: Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday

Find a pair of pants that is tight, but not impossible to zip, Blake suggests to her weight loss patients.  "Every Friday morning, try them on," she says.

Why Friday? Weekends are typically a tougher time to stay on diets, she says. And the Friday morning try-on will motivate you to watch your eating during the weekend.

 "If they are loose, you will say to yourself 'I am making progress, I am staying on track during the weekend,''' she says.

And if they're snug? That will provide motivation to stick to your diet so they'll fit better next week, she says.

SOURCE

* Personally, I wouldn't recommend cooking food in the microwave. I try to limit my usage of the microwave oven to just warming up foods and even than, to no more then one meal a day. In addition to that, what I would do is take it out of the fridge and let it sit in room temperature for about 15 minutes. This cuts down on the amount of time it spends in the microwave.

** On treats, the best thing you can do is not buy them. If you absolutely have to have them, by no more than you can eat in one seating. I've heard people say they can't live without eating certain foods, but when you have PCOS you just have to learn to know what you body NEEDS and what it can do without. It's all about maintaining that balance. 

What Do PCOS and Alzheimer's Disease Have in Common?

I'll bet the last thing you're thinking about is Alzheimer's Disease (also called "AD". After all, that's something for old people to worry about, not you.

There is a higher risk of sporadic AD in people with Type 2 diabetes, and AD patients are more prone to Type 2 diabetes.I've been mostly silent on this issue since 2008, when I wrote a couple of newsletter articles about it. I always feel a little uncomfortable when I go far out on a limb. But I'm going to speak out anyway. In doing my research for the upcoming hair loss prevention e-book, I've come across some evidence I hadn't seen before:

• Being obese or overweight in midlife is a possible risk factor of AD in later life.
• People with AD exhibit impaired glucose metabolism, abnormally high insulin levels and insulin resistance. (So do the majority of women with PCOS.)

OK, given there might be a future risk for you, what can you do to reduce it?

One thing you can do is review your diet. Are you being careful about the amount and types of fat you're consuming? In studies of mice, it appears that a high-fat diet induces insulin resistance, which in turn encourages the creation of a protein thought to be a probably cause of Alzheimer's.

Kings College in the UK has reported that 68% of women with PCOS consume a diet that is more than 35% fat calories. Roughly 1/3 of those fat calories come from saturated fat. Based on this research, it looks like there is some room for modifying your consumption of fats.

If you have a copy of the PCOS diet ebook, review the section on Fats & Oils. Supplemental fish oil is also highly advisable. And take a good, hard look at the amount of saturated fats you're consuming.

Second, eat at least five servings of vegetables every day. You're probably tired of hearing me say it. I only say it because there is convincing medical evidence showing that you can minimize ALL of your future risks if you do this.

And third, do anything you can to consistently exercise and be physically active. Imagine what it would be like if you were a physically fit person. Exercise is almost miraculous in terms of how it helps your body, your self-esteem, and ward off future degenerative diseases.

It's all basic stuff…just good health practices. It's well proven that good health practices are the best health insurance you could possibly have.

SOURCE - http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/pcos-news159.html#sec2

The 7 foods experts won't eat

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. "We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure," says Salatin.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers' markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It's usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don't see it, ask your butcher.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group,

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize-and migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes-the nation's most popular vegetable-they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher ofPrevention). "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. "You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer," says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. "It's that bad." Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. "There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans," admits North. "However, it's banned in most industrialized countries."

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, ororganic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

The problem: If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it's just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. "Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers," he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson's disease.

The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

SOURCE - http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963.html