Farewell To Fat Friday!!!! The Late Edition....Week 12.

I still have a bit of time left in my Friday, right? I had a date this evening with Cameron, the middle child. My morning was a little wonky, but here I am. Did you think I gave up? Threw in the towel. Hell no.

It is my 12th week, thus ending phase one of my new found uh....love?....for a healthy lifestyle. I'm not hating it. As I sit and type, my ass in comfortably nestled in a pair of 12s that I couldn't have even looked at 6 months ago with out busting a seam. Gooooood. Sitting here and I don't even need to undo my button. In the interest of disclosure, I think these jeans are vanity sized for there are no other 12s in my closet that my thighs don't scoff at and say "Yeah, right. As if." But I'm in all of my 14s now, and my 16s all need belts to stay up.

I am a little disappointed in how slowly the weight is coming off. I've lost about 15 pounds in 12 weeks. While that is nothing to ignore, I thought I would be farther along by now. I don't take the scale readings as the holy word of weight loss. However, it is a little tough to swallow when Ian told me yesterday he's lost 39 pounds to my 15. Molasses.

I do have something working against me though, and I have to remind myself of that as the scale slowly crawls down numbers like a drunk sloth. I found out about 4 years ago that I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Don't call the funeral home just yet. It's not life threatening (for me), it's really just an annoyance. It can cause all sorts of fun things and no woman exhibits the same exact symptoms of another.

One of the first and foremost is irregular periods, which I've always had. When they do come, they are heavy, long and painful. The next most popular symptoms are acne, excess body hair, hair loss (like the top of your head kind) and weight gain, especially in the midsection. On top of that, your body chemistry is all whacked. High cholesterol, thyroid probs, insulin is all jacked up, high blood pressure, high testosterone (which accounts for the body hair and male pattern baldness), depression, infertility.

Lady looks like a dude? Yup, she probably has an extreme case of PCOS. Fuuuuuuun stuff. "Gee, Lizz. This all hits pretty close to home." Get thee to the doctor stat! PCOS can up your risks of certain other nasties. Serious ones, even fatal ones sometimes (though rarely), if left unchecked. High cholesterol and high blood pressure are nothing to toy with, Lovies. Neither is insulin.

Well, like I said, the irregular cycles have always been a turd in my punchbowl. And I've talked at length about my body hair problems. I didn't know I had PCOS until we tried to conceive Sophia. I just could NOT get pregnant no matter when we did it, what fertility meds I was on, how many shots of tequila I've had. Not happening.

I had some of the PCOS symptoms, but some of the key ones were missing. Never have had skin problems. Thick, lush locks adorning my head. I had just started packing on weight in my middle despite dieting, so I didn't have a history of problems there. I had three previous pregnancies, so I was fertile (though one ended in miscarriage) It just didn't add up all the way.

My OB (who I adore) took a complete bloodwork panel suspecting PCOS was the issue. Everything came back fine. Better than fine...."enviable" were his words. Cholesterol - perfect. Blood pressure - better than perfect. Insulin and blood sugar levels - beautiful. Thyroid - gorgeous. Excessive testosterone - not this princess. But, being the brilliant doctor he is, he wasn't buying it and threw me down on the ultrasound table. AH HA! And there were my ovaries. Storing up little eggs like a greedy easter bunny and refusing to release them to my uterus. They were classic PCOS ovaries. (Those are similar, yet random internet ovaries, not mine, but see all those little circles? Those are all unreleased eggs.). Can I just say here how happy I am that I have a doctor who dug deeper, no pun intended, after my bloodwork came back fine.

I had a counseling type session after that called something like "PCOS and You: It Fucking Sucks and We're Sorry". There I was told about all the horrid things, mostly cosmetic, but some very serious, that could be in store for me. Joy. That rapid weight gain. Yup. That's a bitch. Guess what? It's going to be like a snail marathon to get it off too. Whee. Eat lean proteins, good carbs and fruits and veggies. Good luck, you'll need it! That will be $200.

So, here I am...leaving my slimy trail down another week of weight loss toward a very distant finish line. I will get there. I can't let the giver of mistimed, hellacious periods and body hair win!

Week 12 means it's weigh-in AND measurement time.

Scales body fat percentage: Starting = 35.8%/ Wk 8 = 34.2%/33.4% (-.8% this month, -2.4% total)
Body Fat % with Calipers: Calipers can kiss my ass. They are a bitch to get a good reading on.


Bust - 43 to 40.75 to 41.5 (+ .75" this month, -1.5" total *I have a different bra on)
Waist - 36.5 to 33 to 33 (no change this month, -3.5" total)
Hips - 46 to 45 to 43.75 (- 1.25" this month, -2.25" total)
Belly - 45.5 to 43 to 41.75 ( -1.25" this month, 3.75" total)
Biceps - 15 to 14.25 to 14.25 (no change this month, -.75 total)
Thigh - 28.25 to 27.5 to 26.5 ( -1" this month, -1.75" total)
Calf - 16.75 to 16.5 to 16.5 (no change this month, -.25" total)

So that's hmmm....math. Yeah. I've lost 13.75 inches in 12 weeks if I added correctly. If.

Today the scale showed 173.4 pounds. It's a small loss, but still a loss!

Starting weight - 188.3

Last week - 174.0

Today - 173.4

This week, I've lost .6 pounds and in 12 weeks, I've lost 14.9 pounds. I've averaged 1.2 pounds per week.

How ya doing out there readers? Anything you care to share with the class? Tell us or post a link! Next week starts a whole new phase, another 12 week cycle. I'm going to kick ass, take names, then pop an Aleve or two.