The Pcos Workbook: Your Guide to Complete Physical and Emotional Health [Paperback]

This is the 5th book on PCOS I've purchased on Amazon.com since being diagnosed in May 2009, and it's the first one I felt compelled to review. It is absolutely the best purchase I've made regarding my health. The workbook format is so much more useful for keeping track of my specific levels, what to ask my endocrinologist, and documenting my progress. I love the worksheet for documenting lab results - so useful! For someone who does not come from a clinical background, all this information can be really overwhelming. The author explains everything in detail, but still makes it easy to comprehend. The other books I've read made me more anxious after reading them, while this one made me feel empowered. I love it and have now ordered her other book as well, can't wait for it to arrive.

No two women with PCOS have the same experience with the syndrome. However,there is one universal truth about PCOS that all women facing it share - it will affect their nutrition, ability to control stress, fertility, body image, and emotions. Enter Angela Grassi and Stephanie Mattei. Grassi, who previously wrote "The Dietician's Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" partnered with Stephanie Mattei to write "The PCOS Workbook" to help women explore and "challenge specific difficulties" of living with PCOS. One of the greatest pieces of information in the early pages of "The PCOS Workbook" is the simple entry entitled "How to Use The PCOS Workbook." In these few short pages, Grassi and Mattei outline what you will be experiencing in the book, chapter by chapter. The first chapter, "Connecting the Dots: Understanding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" is followed by chapters focused on nutrition, stress, the issue of body image, mindful eating, coping with infertility, and finally the management of PCOS to prevent further medical complications. This book is a treasure-trove of information. Here's what's truly great about this book: Throughout each chapter, Grassi and Mattei have developed questions and lists relevant to each topic, with areas for you to write what is relevant to your PCOS experience. This is a WORKbook in every sense of the word. For example, you turn to page 101, in the Body Image and PCOS chapter, and you're asked to actually challenge your own myths about body image. The authors ask you to think about your environment, what you consider to be "truth" and "rules," and how you might self-blame. Then you're asked to think about what you were thinking about body image as you were going through the process of answering the previous questions. This book gets down to the nitty-gritty and helps you work through it all. "The PCOS Workbook" asks you to truly analyze your eating and exercise outines
and patterns, while at the same time providing more-than-enough detailed information about everything you will need to know about the disorder to be well-armed
when talking with your healthcare professionals. The charts Grassi and Mattei use help break the information down into easy-to swallow (no pun intended) bites
of PCOS knowledge. "The PCOS Workbook" is a resource I would recommend to any woman who wants to learn as much as possible about the syndrome, and about
themselves through the process. But be prepared, the Workbook will ask you to dig deep. In the back of the book a glossary is provided, as well as forms to
help you track your lab results, a food journal, online resources, a suggested PCOS food list, and even sample menus. The only addition to this book that would make it an even better resource would be more illustrations. As a publisher, I know that artwork, photos, etc., are pleasing to the eye and provide our reading
eyes a break occasionally. Grassi and Mattei have provided a thorough resource I think all women with PCOS should read.

I've read several books on PCOS. This one I felt is the most helpful for someone with PCOS. Not only does it offer information about the disorder that a regular person can understand, but the written exercises helped challenge my thinking and helped me take control over my PCOS. I lost 5 pounds in the first month I started reading and feel that my exercise and eating habits are finally on track.

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