Anyone with PCOS have success stories :)?

JaydedMiss

I have it and am having a hell of a time losing weight, Before anyone suggests it yes i have a doctors appointment next week to discuss my own personal needs for my body.

But im really hoping to see some others who have had success, Even with the lowered metabolism and body storing fat usually a part of PCOS.

Id love to see or hear how you did it. How much exercise did you do?

JaydedMiss

Makes me sad no one popped up starting to think its impossible

MissusMoon

Try searching the forums. I've seen them myself, they are out there.

JudyKenova175

I have PCOS and I am cutting my carbs and having good success. I have lost 42 so far I think I will add more healthful ones in later, but for now this is working well and my pains have decreased by 75%!! Also I sleep much better and my period started with no PMS this month!!! I do my best to sweat good a few times a week as well. Just moving more helps.

NID2410

I have been a suffering from PCOS from last 10 years now. It started getting better only after i started incorporating some sort of exercise(started with just basic walking) in my routine since last 2 years. My hormonal profile as of now is normal, I am not on any meds.
One very valuable suggestion that really helped me was to limit my sugar intake. I consume less sugar now, and that helps a lot. Some forms of yoga, like kapal bhati(focus on stomach & breathing), anulom vilom(breathing) are really helpful.
I still get delays if I dont exercize or take too much tension for anything- your brain, quality of thoughts effect your PCOD, so there I have to be careful.

agzram

I have PCOS. I struggled in my 30's to conceive went to fertility specialist and tried several unsuccessful rounds of Clomid and IUI finally after three years with no baby I gave up, went to acupuncture and was pregnant within 6 weeks.

Struggled to conceive again and did a successful round of IVF with a successful FET two years later.

Fast forward to my 40's and I'm about 65 pounds overweight from all the fertility drugs and my crappy hormones so started running and working out didn't really lose weight but found myself surprisingly pregnant two months before my 40th birthday.

After she was born, I had to do something to live longer for these 4 beautiful babies I fought so hard to have. I went with a program through my Dr called Optifast for the first 17 weeks and have been steadily losing ever since "graduating" from that program. Mostly with the help of MFP, working out and focusing on my healthy lifestyle I have dropped 75 pounds since last August. I feel loads better and can keep up with my 4 little beauties. The best part is they see mommy taking care of herself and know it's just normal now. My husband has also started working out and eating better and has dropped about 20 pounds too. We are in better shape now than when we married.

I needed the jump start that Optifast gave me but I've kept it up and I'm in this for life now. I never thought it would be possible but it is and you can do it.

Good luck!!

LKArgh

I have PCOS and was diagnosed close to 25 years ago. I have never been overweight. I need to control my calories, and exercise regularly. The lower the weight I am at, the less symptoms I have. And exercise is key.

akerra27

I am 30 and have PCOS. I was diagnosed in my late teens/early 20s. I have all the weight in my belly along with smaller breasts and no booty (all the side effects from PCOS except instead of facial hair I have about 6 regrowing corse ones I have to pluck). No success becoming pregnant and after 6 months after being diagnosed I have not taken any medication for it. (Horrible side effects).
I set out thinking this was going to be more difficult even where I am doctor advisory they even said it was going to be harder.
I am here to say I started Jan 14th and currently down 69.5 pounds. SW 339.5. I have found NO evidence that PCOS has played any factor in me losing weight. I personally think it may play a small factor and when we research what we have been diagnosed with thats all that we really read. I don't think it plays a bigger role like we have grown to think it does. They tell us that it will be hard so we go in with that mentally. I say stop that train of thought and take your journey by the horns. I wish you luck.

amusedmonkey

I have PCOS. I do lose slower than many (a specific error of 150-200 calories) but it's doable. I'm losing successfully (84 pounds so far) simply by recognizing that I will never be losing the exact numbers MFP predicts every week and keeping a relaxed state of mind about the numbers.

What I do is simple: I follow the calories on MFP logging as accurately as possible to the gram and exercise when possible. Exercise is very important for managing PCOS. I personally don't limit sugar, carbs or anything. My PCOS is stress-reactive so putting extra stress on myself through diet restrictions is counterproductive.

One thing you need to know is that we are prone to more violent hormone fluctuations causing varying water retention levels where it looks like you aren't losing for long periods of time, but all you need to do is stop worrying about the numbers and just trust the process. If you are logging everything you eat accurately you WILL lose weight, even if it appears more like waves of your weight going up and down than a nice neat and steady decrease.

See how my weigh ins look on trendweight in the past month. If I wasn't tracking them I would swear I wasn't losing and would even think I was gaining, but data doesn't lie and my weight trend is actually going down exactly by the amount I'm trying to lose (about 1 pound a week) and I'm close to reaching a milestone. The month loss looks lower because I took a couple of weeks of maintenance as seen in the beginning of the graph. I find the 2 week reading to usually be the most accurate representation of my loss.

lea_fitz

Thank you all for posting! I came here looking for the same answer as the OP. I'm a month in to logging religiously and of course saw barely 2lb lost, while others would be on -10 by now. It's hard.

gidgette1972

You will fail if you compare your results with non pcos members. Yes it will be harder and take longer, but as long as you working at it you will succeed.
My progression has taken twice as long, and I'm ok with that. hang in there.

JaydedMiss

@gidgette1972
You look fantastic! any advice?

amkasada86

Hi all!!! I'm so glad this page exists! It is a little bit frustrating to see such progress for non-PCOS members so I'm glad to be here on this page. My name is Amy and I am turning 30 in a couple months. I've just been diagnosed with PCOS for less than a year but I found paperwork for blood work done when I was 18 that notes "possible PCOS"(still mad that doctor didn't follow up with that possibility when I was younger and save me more than a decade of frustration, but I digress). I have lost almost 30lbs in 6months!!!!! I have cut ALL inflammatory foods out of my diet so no dairy, no gluten, less than 26g of sugar a day and no pig meat (pigs have no way to sweat, so they can not get rid of inflammation in their own body then it's in yours if eaten). I walk 5k-10k everyday at a slow, non stressful pace and just recently started a planking plan. I track my food/weight everyday including the good, the bad and the ugly! Being honest with myself wasn't something I always did but I am proud of it now!!! I just purchased my very first bikini AND wore it in public!!!!! I'm so excited to see the small changes in my body!!!! For me it's not about the weight loss but it's more about understanding my body and why it's fought so hard over the years....my sisters would lose 20lbs for every 2lbs I would lost. I'm moving away from the frustration of PCOS into acceptance and understanding and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Much love to you all my cyst sisters!

Ps... I don't know how to post pictures here, please help!

NorthCascades

I have a story but it's about somebody close to me, not about myself, which means I won't post it in public. You can send me a PM if you like though.

amkasada86 wrote: »

Ps... I don't know how to post pictures here, please help!

Upload them to somewhere on the internet that people on MFP will be able to get to (ie Flickr will work, your private email won't) and then put the url to the file in between , like this:

[img][/img]http://www.example.com/picture.jpg[/img]

amusedmonkey

NorthCascades wrote: »

I have a story but it's about somebody close to me, not about myself, which means I won't post it in public. You can send me a PM if you like though.

amkasada86 wrote: »

Ps... I don't know how to post pictures here, please help!

Upload them to somewhere on the internet that people on MFP will be able to get to (ie Flickr will work, your private email won't) and then put the url to the file in between , like this:

[img][/img]http://www.example.com/picture.jpg[/img]

The above is one way to do it, but you could also use the image tool to either upload from your computer or paste a URL from the internet without needing to mess with tags

katesnap

I am on metformin for PCOS and it has helped regulate my insulin and help me manage my weight. It's not the golden ticket but it really helps me. Also I keep my sugar and carbs controlled and drink tons of water....I get alot of belly fat,..40 years old...I fight the fight though...just sharing a little

gidgette1972

Drink plenty of water and stay away from sugar for sure. Drink lots of water and get moving! It will happen if you stay on track. Don't look at your journey as a diet, look at it as a lifestyle change. Also, fiber fiber fiber!! Get some soluble fiber that dissolves clear, I use it in anything I drink. You can use in food prep as well without noticing it's there

chellifit

Intermittent fasting works for me. I eat carbs in the morning and then protein and veggies until 4pm. And then water and spearmint tea the rest of the day.

MeepleMuppet

There is a very active group of us over at http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3070-p-c-o-sis Lots of support and success stories. I'm doing very well by reducing carbs and increasing protein. I can't say I'm low carb, I'm low-ish. I'm also on Spirolacetone which is a med that is helping to alleviate some of the other systems.

MarziPanda95

I have PCOS. I've lost about 65lbs, though I had lost 70 and now gained 5lbs back from a bad week. I didn't lower my carbs. I didn't lower my sugar. Heck, I didn't even exercise much at all other than occasionally going swimming. It's really all about calorie control.

laur357

I've lost 60. Planning on another 55. I lose a little slower than I expect, but calorie counting is working just fine for me.
I feel better physically and emotionally, and have way more energy with regular exercise. Weight lifting and body weight exercise has really helped improve the shape of my body more so than when I was only reducing calories (slimmer calves - they're still disproportionately large though, and smaller waistline). But, I'm pretty sure that's the case whether one has PCOS or not.
No problems with blood sugar, so I don't purposefully cut carbs per my endocrinologist - I don't eat a ton of refined white flour anymore, but that's just because pasta/bread/etc. is calorically dense. I don't eat many sweets, but mostly because I prefer salty/savory food.
Really, it's the calorie counting and acknowledging that I was making a lot of excuses for myself that helped me lose 60 pounds so far.

justineismoney

I'm going to add my own 2 cents. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 6 months ago. I never knew I had PCOS because I was on the pill for years and I was always very active. When I went off the pill a little over a year ago I put on 10 lbs very quickly (almost all of it my stomach, which was always flat). I have tried to loose it, but to no success. By all accounts I'm a healthy weight, but I struggle with much of the PCOS syndrome. It's hard being at the reproductive age and knowing that I'm going to have a hard time having children. I still don't have periods or ovulate. I've really upped the exercise and I'm trying to eat far less carbs and sugars and I hope to loose 5-10 lbs in 6 weeks and maybe get a real period. If any of you are looking for friends for support please add me.

MiuNya

YES HUN!! I have lost 35lbs with PCOS!

What I tried was lowering carb intake, drinking mint tea daily, starting exercising including weights and cardio, eating more veg, lean meats and cutting out as much processed and fast food where necessary. Best of luck, its getting real hard for me at the end, the tummy is hard to go with PCOS... im 145lbs now, I was 180.

side note: Ah yes also I make sure and stick to the calories that MFP tells me to eat and just stick to that. I go over some days and under some others but you gotta treat yourself now and then, its no way to live, even if it becomes that tiny bit slower, its better to have progress and enjoy yourself than to stop bc you want to binge and hate your life cutting the foods you love.

(im a sucker for rice and noodles ooooh and crisps hehe)


Me then vs now , hoo boyyy that tum tum I still have