u/Certain-Brush8422

Naming conventions in the Christian commuity has undergone changes in the last several decades. My grandmother's name has her house name as an initial but from my generation we have only my father's name, and a middle name which is most often a baptismal name. Where is the mother's name! like wtf! What is the rationale for not having the mother's surname in the baby's surname anymore? I didn't change my name after getting married- not planning to, either, because it is complete as is. So, I'm gonna argue the case for having a hyphenated surname for my babies (my surname-husband's surname). I know it's going to be mouthful, but I think it's more than fair. Has anyone else done the same?

I'm panicking a little bit about the passport services suspension in Australia which also includes police clearance certificate. I do have time left on my student visa, but the notice on the website says its suspended until further notice. But I'm wondering if anyone knows if there are any news on when we can expect it to reopen?

The two week trial blew my mind. Some lessons I learnt

1. Processed food spike is crazy, btu so is stacked carbs. My biggest spikes (up to 9mmol) happened when I stacked carb heavy processed foods like bread, pastry, muffin, rice etc. This was eye opening.

2. Always always prioritise fibre with every meal. Lots of veggies is key. Had substantially minimal spikes (my lunch glucose barely moved up) when i had lots of veggies with protein and other forms of carbs/starch to balance the meal.

3. First meal is key. The days I had overnight oats with protein powder, I had some of the best blood sugar balance throughout the day

4. Give atleast four hours between meals. Like i said stacking meals was horrible. Probably why pcos girlies should refrain from grazing. coz it takes 2-3 hours for your glucose to come down, seeing a spike soon after that was heartbreaking, and made me more resilient to not do it anymore

5. Coffee was cause a spike (but not for everyone). I will be honest- I was skeptical about this one. But it si true! It happened to me multiple times when I had a coffee on its own between meals vs soon after meal (the latter had a lower spike or probably blended into the spike from the meal).

6. Walk after lunch can do wonders! I kid you not this is the biggest learning from the two week. I walked 3k steps after lunch because I work on a campus and can afford to do so after my lunch and it had the biggest impact on my blood sugar.

Hope this helps someone out there!

Hi everyone,

I have PCOS, and ever since I was diagnosed with it I have been getting blood work done regularly to check my thyroid levels. Because my TSH is still within the normal range, they haven't ever done T3 and T4 or TPO antibodies. But over the last two years I have noticed a consistent increase in TSH.

Sept 2024- 0.9 µIU/mL

Aug 2025- 1.52

Nov 2025- 1.2

May 2026- 1.9

Is this concerning?

Hey everyone,

I have been diagnosed with PCOS since Jan 2025. At the time, I had higher than normal androgens which came down in a couple of months with healthy lifestyle and workout. I'm still 20 pounds above healthy BMI (and currently overweight). I have decent muscle mass because I have been lifting weights since before my PCOS diagnosis. However, I have high body fat percentage (close to 40% last time I checked). Recently I got my blood work done again. I was sure I have insulin resistance because I have a portruding belly and skewed waist to hip ratio (obviously). However, my fasting insulin is 4.2 mU/L, fasting glucose is 4.7 mmol/L and A1c is 5.1% which leave me a bit surprised and confused. So then, is my PCOS inflammation induced? Or should I read this as 4.2 being too high for me? Appreciate everyone's comments and feedback!