I Want a Flat Stomach!!

I’m on a mission to get a flat stomach ready for my beach holiday in September. So how the hell do I go about it because everybody keeps telling me different things and also I need something simple, not time consuming techniques that I can fit into my busy everyday life (Really, I’m a lazy bugger).

It is all over the news here in the UK, one paper wrote “More than half of British women have waists that are larger than the recommended healthy size, experts say.  Researchers from the charity Nuffield Health say overweight women risk an increased chance of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, infertility and cancer.  The researchers found the average waist measurement for women is 84.9cm (33.43in), compared with the healthy size of 80cm (31.49in).  Dr Deniszczyc, professional head of physicians and diagnostics at Nuffield Health, said: "Fat being stored around the waist can contribute to significant health issues, such as breast cancer and infertility."

My waist is currently 38” and I look about 4 months pregnant all the time and by the end of the day I look about 6 months. It’s so depressing because I know that with a flat stomach I would look hot, nice and curvy. I don’t want to be skinny again because I hated it. I wear clothes from a UK 14–16 on the bottom and 16-18 on the top. I would like to be a 12-14 bottom and 14-16 top but all toned with no muffin tops loool. I look like a thinish cyster due to my height but I suffer the effects of PCOS badly due to the extra weight I carry.

So today is the 3rd July 2012 and my holiday is on the 19th September 2012, so not long now (Woo Hoooo!!!). I am not buying any clothes because the aim is to drop a dress size so I’m saving for my big fat shopping spree in my sexy new clothes :-)!!

Okay so you have probably all guessed already that I am a research freak so my lazy techniques are going to consist of the following. Drinking lots of water, a min of 2 litres per day, taking a Chromium supplement, buying a weighted hula hoop, lots of planking (I hate sit ups, prefer to plank), going for at least three long walks per week and no junk food now until after my holiday (that’s going to be the hardest…eek)

1. Water - Drinking plenty of water is crucial if you have PCOS. It helps to keep hormone systems working. Water helps to lubricate parched tissue and helps fibre in your food swell and perform its function. It helps your liver to break down and excrete toxins and for your glands to secrete the correct balance of hormones. Drinking more water will also stop your body from retaining it thus reducing abdominal bloating. Try to drink 6 to 8 glasses a day.

2. Chromium - A small study of six women with PCOS and insulin resistance showed encouraging results with chromium supplementation. These women took 1000 mcg of chromium picolinate for two months, at which time their glucose disposal (insulin sensitivity) had improved by an average of 35%, and their baseline insulin levels fell by 22%. This is the only study we've found that deals specifically with PCOS. (I personally always see a difference when I take Chromium but since I have been researching, I didn’t realise that I wasn’t taking enough so I have increased my does to 1000 mcg instead of the 200 mcg I was on… I don’t have metformin so this is a substitute which has the same effect.)

3. Weighted Hula Hoop - Hula hooping requires effort from some of the biggest muscles in the body. These muscles require a significant amount of energy, so it forces the body to burn fat stores. Hula hooping works out several of your body’s core muscles. It strengthens and tones these muscles. Muscles that can be toned by hula hooping include: glutes, thighs, hips, legs, knees and abdomen. In addition, you can twirl a hula hoop with your arms to tone your shoulders and forearms. Hula hooping with heavier hoops can provide additional resistance to tone these muscles faster.

Hula hooping is such a low impact exercise that just about anyone can use it to increase their endurance and general fitness level. Even just 10 minutes of hula hooping can provide enough benefit to your body to increase aerobic activity. Hula hooping is so effective as an aerobic workout that an hour of hula hooping can help you burn just as many calories as the same length of time of an intense workout, such as the treadmill. For those unable to perform serious aerobic exercises due to health reasons, hula hooping can be their gateway to better health. (Just ordered one from eBay £14.99!!)

4. Planking - We all want to have flat tummies and gorgeous abs. Planking exercise is one of the best abs exercises, according to the Fitness Magazine. Planking exercise develops the abs and the muscles inner thighs, glutes, hamstrings and our quads. This exercise can be done anywhere, anytime and can be performed even without equipment. Planking exercise is better and more effective than doing a hundred crunches a day.

Planking exercise is done by positioning the entire body like a wooden plank. This exercise promotes core stability, strength and endurance. Doing planking exercise trains our abdominals, backs and butts. Depending on how you support your planks, you will also be strengthening the muscles of your arms in the process. The more you perform planking exercise, the faster you develop our abs and firm your thighs. All you need to do is hold this position for 60 seconds and repeat three times or if your stronger instead of using your elbows use your hands.

5. Walking - Complicated aerobic exercises can have a great effect on personal fitness. But so, too, can something as simple as walking. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh revealed that overweight people who walked briskly for 30-60 minutes a day lost weight even if they didn’t change any other lifestyle habits. I plan to do a brisk walk at least 3 times a week.

6. Eating Better – I’ll save this for another blog, but basically I’m just going to cut down and cut out a few things, nothing drastic as I don’t want my body going into shock lool.

So I if I keep doing all six in theory I should have a flatter stomach come September but I will let you know how I get on later.

Wish me luck as I am already struggling as I am thinking about ordering a pizza :-(

Coca-Cola and BFP's

So in my last post I wrote about how coke, lemonade and Coffee can all produce positive BFP's, so I tried it lool as you do and here are my result. I definately got a BFP from Coke one on a pound shop test and one from an internet cheapy.

This is the pound shop test (dollar test)..

This is the internet cheapy vs my urine..

FYI.. I am not sure if I'm pregnant but im really late now and tons of symptoms!! fingers x'd

Here are some links to some forums about BFP's with Coke..

http://www.babyandbump.com/trying-to-conceive/700662-sure-fire-way-get-your-bfp-updated-pic.html

http://www.twoweekwait.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=174696

Faint Positive Pregnancy Tests... Wow

Okay this is a quick blog as my lunch is nearly over at work, I have done loads of tests and they have all been coming up with really faint BFP's, ill post some pics when I get home for work. So as far as I’m concerned they are negative because they are really faint.

Since May 2011 my periods have averaged 33 days which means that I would have ovulated on the 20/01/12 and on the 26/01/12 I had one drop of blood literally when I wiped followed by a bit of pink spotting, then brown then it turned white and has stayed white ever since (My thought is an implantation bleed). My last period was 29/12/11 and none since!! So.... as of today I would be 7 weeks pregnant if I was pregnant and should be getting strong positives by now!!

Symptoms which are irrelevant as you can get all of these with PCOS but anyway - tingling breasts and sensitive nipples but not painful like when AF is due which come and go throughout the day - veins are becoming more prominent on my breasts - Extremely bloated Uggh!! - peeing all the time which is annoying when you go 4 times in the night - slight metallic taste in my mouth - light cramps on and off - my beard is growing at a phenomenal rate!! - spots and blemishes are a lot darker and harder to cover with makeup - rashes all over my body (I had eczema as a kid) - overwhelming tiredness - very moody (my fella is not talking to me at the moment and called me an old moody cow!!..... nice!!) - very heavy discharge feels like a light AF and its very milky white, my nose is also running more, drooling, lots of ear wax and watery eyes..ewwww

So I did some research and I was shocked to find that one of the reasons for a faint positive is if you have too much HCG which can cause a false negative result and that you should dilute your urine with water and test. I will give it a try later but I doubt I am really pregnant.

A false negative pregnancy test means that the test tells the patient they are not pregnant when they really are. Why does this occur? There are four well known reasons pregnancy tests can give false negative results.

1) The most common reason is testing too early after fertilization occurs. The pregnancy hormone, hCG, is not produced until implantation occurs and it takes several days for the hCG concentrations to get high enough in blood and then urine to give a positive signal. Most devices give positive results around the day of a woman's expected period, but this can vary widely.

2) Another reason for false negative results is dilute urine. If a woman drinks a lot of fluids, the concentration of hCG in the urine will be more dilute. For this reason many doctors recommend that testing be performed on the first urine of the morning because this tends to be the most concentrated (because you probably have not drank anything all night long).

3) A very rare cause of false negative results occurs when very, very, high concentrations of hCG are present. This is called the high-dose hook effect. The hCG assays works by forming a so-called "sandwich" with two different antibodies as the "bread" and the hCG molecule as the "meat." The hook effect occurs when the hCG concentration is so high that it saturates both antibodies and there are so many molecules that the antibodies don't actually form a sandwich. This is rare because women don't normally produce enough hCG to saturate both antibodies. The hook effect should be of concern in a hospital setting, but most women should not be concerned about a hook effect with their urine. A hook effect can be confirmed if testing shows a positive result after sample dilution.

4) Finally, the other reason for false negatives was only recently described and is referred to as the "variant hook effect." This is much more common than the hook effect. As pregnancy progresses, there are actually different variant forms of hCG that begin to appear in the urine. After about 5 weeks of pregnancy (i.e. 3 weeks after the expected period) concentrations of hCG beta core fragment are higher than all other forms of hCG. This is perfectly normal. Unfortunately, the concentration of hCG beta core fragment can saturate one of the antibodies used in the assay in certain pregnancy kits, and the other antibody doesn't recognize the beta core fragment. As a result, no sandwich forms and the test is read as a negative. The farther in pregnancy a woman is, the more likely that this false negative will occur. Similar to the hook effect, the variant hook effect can be confirmed if testing shows a positive result after diluting the sample.

Posted by Ann M. Gronowski, PhD 5/8/11 - http://www.pregnancylab.net/hcg-variants/

Wow – I did not know this so I had to share it, also Coke, lemonade and coffee all produce BFP’s on pregnancy test which I found out by accident. (basically I left an old test next to take away cup which leaked coke onto the test and a strong positive came up so I googled it and found out that it was possible, I took an internet cheapy and tried it and got a faint positive like my first test... FYI the internet cheapy tests are rubbish!!)

Can anyone who gets a faint positive and then dilutes there pee and gets a strong positive let me know as it would help so many!!

Quick update! I wasn't pregnant, may have been a chemical pregnancy who knows what happened? But I had a period on the 6th March and on the 10th April"

Savannah x