Why I Want to Lose Weight

My New Year's resolution to lose 30 pounds is a typical one. A lot of people resolve to lose weight to be healthier, to lose "baby weight," whatever... I've resolved to lose weight several times over the last few years and I did manage to shed about 20 pounds before my wedding.

Here's a photo of me in my junior year of high school. I weighed approximately 175. This was the year that I did marching band in the fall and swimming in the spring, probably the most active I've EVER been. (Not the greatest photo because it was taken at camp and it was taken on film -- yeah, way back in the middle ages of photography, LOL.)



Now, I have no desire to be *that* skinny again because I honestly feel like I looked, well, GROSS that small. My goal weight is around 195. It is probably still more than I SHOULD weigh, but it's about 30 pounds less than I weigh now, so it's a good start.

Anyway, the reason I want to lose weight isn't entirely to look better, feel better, and be healthier -- though those are all good reasons. The real reason is that I want to start my family.

(Beware: this post might be heading into "TMI" territory.)

No, I'm not pregnant and no, we're not trying. However, it's probably going to take a while for that to happen. My cycles have always been weird. I was regular in that I knew exactly when my period would be, but that was the irregular part -- it was every three months, AND it would last 2-3 weeks and be incredibly heavy (like, going through a super plus every hour and a half). Talk about annoying, frustrating, and just plain gross. My OBGYN at the time didn't seem to think much of it, and she put me on birth control to regulate my cycles. It was wonderful. I went from 3-week long periods to three-DAY long periods. but nothing was addressing the CAUSE of the irregularity.

When I married J, I switched health insurance and had to switch both my OBGYN and my GP. In my FIRST visit with my new OBGYN, he pinpointed what I had thought was wrong with me. He referred me for a blood test, which confirmed the idea. I have PCOS.

PCOS stands for "Polycystic Ovary Syndrome." You can read about here, here, and here, but basically I have a higher level of testosterone than an average women, which leads to a hormone imbalance which leads to a few issues, most apparent is the cysts on one or both ovaries. They aren't cancerous and they don't affect my health at all except for the fact that it impedes ovulation.

Another issue it causes is glucose intolerance. This could mean diabetes or it could mean hyper/hypo-glycemia. I'm at a higher risk of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which in turn increases my risk for heart attack, stroke, etc. All my cholesterol levels and stuff checked out okay when my GP referred my for MORE blood tests shortly after the diagnosis (except my Vitamin D levels... more milk drinking for me, I guess!) and I'll get it tested every 5 years. I'm not too concerned about that issue because I'm not, like, morbidly obese or whatever.

My biggest concern is the fertility issue. It's not IMPOSSIBLE for me to get pregnant, but it will be tough -- I don't ovulate regularly (if at all... I tried temping but didn't stick with it long enough to figure it out) which obviously makes conception fairly tricky since that's half of the equation. However, in my info quest shortly after I was diagnosed, I read a lot about women who have lost weight and had success conceiving on their own. Not a significant amount of weight -- just 15-20 pounds made the difference.

So that's my motivation. J and I agreed to be married 2 years before really considering starting our family. That date is coming up in March and I know that we aren't ready. But I would like to reexamine it next March, on our 3rd anniversary. Hopefully by then we'll be thousands of dollars out of debt, I'll be 30 pounds lighter, and we'll both be ready to start a new chapter in our lives.