Thread: Want to help my wife

Hey, I give you a ton of credit for taking action as well. I was in the same shoes, September 07 as your wife. It was a very difficult time, because it seemed so big. Way bigger than me, and I didn't know if I could overcome it all.

I started doing some research the day I found out, and made some huge lifestyle changes since then. I don't know if you wife has weight to lose but if she does that would play a huge role in this. I weighed 268 lbs in Sept of 07. I now weigh 178 lbs. I feel great, have tons of energy, I don't have insulin resistance any longer, the hair is in control, the dark skin spots are all gone, I have a very regular period - every month since the 2nd month into doing a Low Glycemic diet. And the biggest part of all of this, I lowered my testosterone and I am ovulating every month.

I am not trying to get pregnant just yet, I was more trying to prepare my body for that, when the time was right. From looking at my before and after's... my doctor thinks I will have no problem conceiving, which is really exciting.

I never did any kind of medications like clomid, etc. I did everything natually.. which consisted of doing the Low Glycemic diet and exercising. You would be a huge support system if you could help her eat that way and eat with her. My entire family loves my cooking, and it's healthy!

If you have any questions let me know, but just know that there are options. She will never get 'rid' of PCOS.. however, she can overcome the symptoms of it. I know I will have to go Low Glycemic forever, which is fine with me. I love this way of life now, knowing the changes I've made drives me to keep going and keep getting better.

i think thats so great what you men want to do for your wife. really keep it up!!!!!! it always nice to see you care!!!!

The main things that I do are, low fat or no fat dairy (and they have improved a TON) I get skim or 1% milk. I don't mind skim at all, but everyone else prefers 1%. I get fat free sour cream, fat free cheese slices, reduced fat deli cheese slices, 1/3 or fat free cream cheese, 1% cottage cheese, etc.

Lean meats (I buy 5% fat ground beef - most ground beef is 25-30% fat) range-free chicken, ground turkey.

All complex carbs and no simple carbs. Complex carbs are whole grain breads, whole grain pasta, whole grain/wheat wraps, brown rice etc. They keep you satisfied for longer. No simple carbs, which are white breads, white pasta, white rice, etc.

Lots of fruits and veggies, and I rarely eat fatty foods or sweet treats. When there are options for lower sugar or lower sodium, I buy those. But I don't get sugar free, because of the aspartame. Which is a whole other topic. Aspartame is thought to be linked to certain types of cancers. So diet soda, or any soda was out right away for me.

Sugars can mess with PCOS, because of insulin resistance, blood sugar and glucose levels, if that's an issue. So using Agave or Stevia, for a substitute is a much better option. They are both natural, Stevia is from a natural plant, you barely need any, and it doesn't effect blood sugar levels. Which is very important.

I actually have a recipe blog that I would be willing to share with you... I will send you a private message with that link.

Also if you goggle "Low Glycemic diet" you will find soo many recipes. I also like to visit a recipe blog website: http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/.

However you do need 'treats' from time to time. So I keep South Beach Diet granola bars around, Skinny Cow ice cream treats which are low fat, and then fruit is enough for sweets most of the time for me. I wasn't always that way, I had to get over my sweet cravings first, which took probably 1-2 weeks to get over all of the cravings. It wasn't easy at first, but now my body doesn't even want it.

I will message you right now, let me know if you have questions!

You are very welcome, my hopes are to get some more recipes on there soon!

Net_work

Good for you for being on here. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for over a year now and I can tell you that it's mentally and physically exhausting. The best thing my husband does for me is show me his love and patience when I'm having a breakdown (that unfortunately is usually aimed at him) and hug me tighter then ever. He rarely has the right thigns to say because I'm just not sure any words are the right ones but just being able to cry in his arms makes such a difference.

As for helping your wife with lifestyle changes such as diet - my advice would be to do it with her. Cutting carbs and sugar is good for anyone. One thing my husband and I do is that every Sunday we buy healthy snacks and prepare them together for the week. We wash and cut all of our veggies and make 'veggie packs' (sandwich bag with mixed veggies), put cottage cheese in small containers (sometimes adding fresh mellon), cut swiss cheese into blocks and indiviually bag them with some grapes, bag almonds/nuts, etc. That way we have healthy snacks to bring to work with us so we don't turn to the vending machine.

Also, if your wife needs a support group send her to this website. The women I've met on here have literally helped me through some of my darkest hours.

Good luck!

Hello =)

I would like to say I think it's amazing that you're so interested in helping your wife, being a woman with PCOS it's extremely important to know your partner wants to educate himself rather than distance himself. I was only diagnosed late 2008 so I'm still sort of new to this, & I still remember the feeling you get when you first get diagnosed and it's all so new to you. You feel alone and confused and you feel as if something as randomly taken control of something that's yours, your body. You being there for her is amazing, I love to read this section of the boards, it's so wonderful knowing so many men out there love their wife/girlfriend enough to self-educate themselves. My boyfriend's amazing, when I was first diagnosed he went out and bought a book about it and read the whole thing himself before I had a chance to get myself a book, lol. He's been there for me through this whole journey and he knows what makes me feel better when I'm feeling sick from the symptoms and so on, I'm sure your wife will see this too. Again, I find it amazing =)

Good luck with everything and make it a daily thing to call your wife beautiful. My boyfriend tells me I'm beautiful all the time, Something as simple as him gazing into my eyes and telling me I'm beautiful makes me realize PCOS doesn't make you "ugly" as the majority of us think.