My IR Story

I was officially diagnosed with Insulin Resistance, and PCOS, in early 2011   It took a long time before I found a doctor who realized what was going on, mainly because I am not overweight, and many people - including doctors! - still think that to have insulin resistance, you must be overweight.  I had experienced symptoms and asked doctors about PCOS for years, and was told, "No, no, that's not it."

After our little girl was born, my body seemed to change even more.  My next two pregnancies heartrendingly ended in miscarriages.  Finally, I met a fantastic doctor who listened to me.  Ran tests.  They confirmed what I had thought.  I had poly-cystic ovarian syndrome with insulin resistance.  The official diagnosis was bittersweet. Was I excited to hear such news? Certainly not.  But I did want to understand what is going on in my body, and I was glad to have a name for the sneaky and sly thing within me.

The daunting list of medical conditions associated with insulin resistance frightened me at first, and left me feeling hopeless. I felt doomed to develop serious medical conditions.  I felt powerless.  I mean, I already considered myself to be a healthy eater.  I baked my own stinkin' granola.  I was frustrated that I had to give up foods that would be considered healthy foods for many people - hearty chunks of bread, whole wheat crackers, and flavored yogurt were off the list after meeting with a nutritionist.  I mean, eating less chocolate cake and passing on the Pixie Sticks I get.  But no granola??  Really?

But, I want to do anything in my power in order to reduce my risk of someday having another miscarriage, or of developing diabetes, heart disease, weight problems, depression...  I also want to be able to help my daughter grow up to make healthy choices, because she has potentially inherited my genes for PCOS and IR along with my genes for ridges on my front teeth and my infamous stubbornness.  With these goals in mind, I began searching for resources - cook books, blogs, medical books, and anything I could think of.  I was looking for recipes and ideas that would allow me to eat the foods I liked, eat foods that were good for me, and not feel like I was missing out all the time.   (Check out the blog roll for some fantastic places for recipes!)  I also started experimenting.  (Thank you, to my darling husband, for giving up grilled pizza crust in lieu of portabello pizzas.  And thank you, to my sweet little girl, who doesn't eat macaroni and cheese nearly as often as she would like!)

After a few months of experimenting, I was beginning to get the hang of this IR thing!  My inner science teacher was actually enjoying the trial-and-error process of adjusting one variable at a time, and I took crazy mad scientist notes on post-its and folders and cook book margins.   I found that more often than not, I was eating food that I enjoyed...and my family would gladly eat to boot!  We were all getting healthier, and making better decisions for our bodies, yet I didn't feel like every meal was a sacrifice, every snack a drudgery.  I hope to share some of what I have learned with you here on my blog.  I figure it will make a much better record of my recipes than my post-its at least!  Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read a bit about me!