PCOS and Loosing fat. I need advice
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kallen771991
Posts: 54 Member
Hello everyone, I have a question for those of you who know a bit about PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome. I was diagnosed in 2016 after fertility issues. So here is what i want to know. I have the pcos, plus anxiety, depression, and PTSD. My doctor at one time had said that it sounded like i had an eating disorder when i was trying to loose weight before but she never put it down on my chart. Basically I crave flavors... not food per say. If i get a hankering, i just want the taste, not the food. But being as i lived a very unhappy and abusive life till i was 21, i got hooked on food as the only thing i could have control over. I have two kiddos now and i need to be a positive role model for them and after seeing the 303.6 on the scale last year, being in a size 26... i cried.. i had been working through so much past baggage plus lingering hurt from my miscarriage in 2018 but i had never thought i'd hit that number. So i decided to get my butt in gear. Slowly but surely i changed my eating habits and worked my way back to a healthier lifestyle. My doctor was quite impressed with my progress. This morning i weighed in at 248.2 lbs. Mind you i am THRILLED to be down lower than i was in high school. I had been falsly diagnosed with bipolar disorder when i was 9 and my meds made me gain a lot and retain a lot of water weight and my doctors said 261 at 14 was normal... i shame them now.. no one actually cared to listen or pay attention.
anyways. now that i have control, and i've cut sweets way down, and pretty much kicked soda to the curb. i've been avoiding pasta, been eating and cooking with better oils. I have not only managed to get my weight down but my lab results a week ago compared to last year is so much better and i couldn't be farther over the moon... diabetes runs in my family and with the insulin resistance being a part of my PCOS i have so much to worry about.
I am simply wanting to understand why it is that i'm doing so well on my weight but the measurements i take once a month haven't changed in a few months now and it bugs me beyond belief!
I measure my thighs, and around my belly twice. I have a "B" belly, always have even before kids, and so i measure around the two pooches i have. They went down a bit from last year but not as much as i would think. And my thighs get a little better but i think i'm also gaining muscle back there i lost while in my couch potato time. I go to the gym and walk at a speed of 3 and incline of 2 on the treadmill mon, wed, and fri, during the week for a full 60 min with a 5 min cool down. (this has always worked to loose weight for me in the past, still holds true) I actually burn between 500 to 700 calories this way. I tried palates but ended up finding out my back injury can't take it and had to stop. I try to do just dance and DDR for fun with the kids just to get some extra time in some days as well, getting basically all cardio but that's all i had ever done. I also drink nothing but water during the week. The weekends we are on the move with family and such, and sometimes i induldge in some sweet tea or soda, but not a huge amount. I think i take in about 120 oz of water a day, sometimes a little less but i aim for over 100. sometimes i'm just so full from my food i don't drink for a while.
Actually i'm finding i have started to take in less calories too. like for instance in july, i had a hard time keeping under 1600 cal, now i'm having a hard time hitting 1200 cal a day.
I have the Garden of Life, chocolate, meal shake plus Sports Research Collagen Peptides type 1 and 3 for breakfast and for lunch i have either a salad, which i make with romaine, spinach, carrots, cottage cheese and a little salt and pepper or a proper portion of ranch powder for flavor, sometimes i add chicken, or i fry up some zucchini and have that with an apple and natural peanut butter. Dinner depends, i try to alter what i can to be low GI if i can, so like for spaghetti i do zoodles instead of pasta and that FILLS me to the brim, i love it, but subbing with veggies like this makes for such a decline in calories i have a hard time keeping my count what they say is healthy. But i'm honestly starting not to care, Stopping when i'm full seems like such a bigger deal than calorie intake at this point. i take vitamins to help take in what i may miss, plus my shake has a ton of nutrients in it too.
I just wondered, if anyone else struggled like this?
Pcos makes things so muddy in terms of "healthy" and I'm just wanting so badly to reach a size 18 by Christmas.. i'm starting to fit into size 20 stuff again finally so its a big deal for me. I log everything out, even if i have a try of something new, like a single chip. So i know i'm getting things right. I'm trying so hard given the time i have to work with.
I'm also a stay at home mother, so i clean every single day, i home school my son and daughter and i'm in charge of the cooking most nights as well so my time to go to the gym is limited and i would rather be alone to do anything other than play my dancing games... idk why, just makes me anxious to be watched i guess. So i would love some advice, i think my doctor is hitting a point where she can't do much else to help. thought i'd see what you lovely individuals would suggest or advise. Thank you a ton for reading and your responses
anyways. now that i have control, and i've cut sweets way down, and pretty much kicked soda to the curb. i've been avoiding pasta, been eating and cooking with better oils. I have not only managed to get my weight down but my lab results a week ago compared to last year is so much better and i couldn't be farther over the moon... diabetes runs in my family and with the insulin resistance being a part of my PCOS i have so much to worry about.
I am simply wanting to understand why it is that i'm doing so well on my weight but the measurements i take once a month haven't changed in a few months now and it bugs me beyond belief!
I measure my thighs, and around my belly twice. I have a "B" belly, always have even before kids, and so i measure around the two pooches i have. They went down a bit from last year but not as much as i would think. And my thighs get a little better but i think i'm also gaining muscle back there i lost while in my couch potato time. I go to the gym and walk at a speed of 3 and incline of 2 on the treadmill mon, wed, and fri, during the week for a full 60 min with a 5 min cool down. (this has always worked to loose weight for me in the past, still holds true) I actually burn between 500 to 700 calories this way. I tried palates but ended up finding out my back injury can't take it and had to stop. I try to do just dance and DDR for fun with the kids just to get some extra time in some days as well, getting basically all cardio but that's all i had ever done. I also drink nothing but water during the week. The weekends we are on the move with family and such, and sometimes i induldge in some sweet tea or soda, but not a huge amount. I think i take in about 120 oz of water a day, sometimes a little less but i aim for over 100. sometimes i'm just so full from my food i don't drink for a while.
Actually i'm finding i have started to take in less calories too. like for instance in july, i had a hard time keeping under 1600 cal, now i'm having a hard time hitting 1200 cal a day.
I have the Garden of Life, chocolate, meal shake plus Sports Research Collagen Peptides type 1 and 3 for breakfast and for lunch i have either a salad, which i make with romaine, spinach, carrots, cottage cheese and a little salt and pepper or a proper portion of ranch powder for flavor, sometimes i add chicken, or i fry up some zucchini and have that with an apple and natural peanut butter. Dinner depends, i try to alter what i can to be low GI if i can, so like for spaghetti i do zoodles instead of pasta and that FILLS me to the brim, i love it, but subbing with veggies like this makes for such a decline in calories i have a hard time keeping my count what they say is healthy. But i'm honestly starting not to care, Stopping when i'm full seems like such a bigger deal than calorie intake at this point. i take vitamins to help take in what i may miss, plus my shake has a ton of nutrients in it too.
I just wondered, if anyone else struggled like this?
Pcos makes things so muddy in terms of "healthy" and I'm just wanting so badly to reach a size 18 by Christmas.. i'm starting to fit into size 20 stuff again finally so its a big deal for me. I log everything out, even if i have a try of something new, like a single chip. So i know i'm getting things right. I'm trying so hard given the time i have to work with.
I'm also a stay at home mother, so i clean every single day, i home school my son and daughter and i'm in charge of the cooking most nights as well so my time to go to the gym is limited and i would rather be alone to do anything other than play my dancing games... idk why, just makes me anxious to be watched i guess. So i would love some advice, i think my doctor is hitting a point where she can't do much else to help. thought i'd see what you lovely individuals would suggest or advise. Thank you a ton for reading and your responses
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Replies
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Hey!
I thought I'd chime in here since I also have PCOS and Endometriosis, which I struggled with a lot in the past between weight issues, extreme pain and every other fun thing our reproductive organs try to kill us with haha. But I'll give you my experience with not only getting over pain but dropping 80 pounds in the past and keeping it off with maybe the up and down of 5-10 pounds.
About 6 years ago I was in and out of the hospital for extreme pain related to endo, I was then put on about 7 different diets over 6 months ( as each one made it worse with in a week), I ended up fasting until dinner every night because food caused the pain. So I would just drink water until I got home for dinner.
One night I was watching a documentary ( vegucated ), which showed peoples health improving from going plant based. Went cold turkey vegan the next morning, and holy crap the pain as gone for the first time in 4 years.
I have now been vegan for 5 years and have stayed under 140 pounds the whole time while pretty much eating what I want, when I want as long as it was plant based. Recently I've switched to a full whole food plant diet for weight lifting and health.
I would suggest trying it as things they suggest to help PCOs is beans, greens, veggies, lentils, high fiber foods etc.
While foods they say to avoid with PCOs is dairy, meats, high fat, refined carbs and so on.
I hope some info here can be of help =]2 -
If you're changing clothing sizes - then chances are you ARE losing inches too. Personally I have never trusted myself to measure properly. It is so easy to hold the tape a little differently and get a different #. Take pictures, such as on the 1st of each month (or more often if you'd like) in a similar pose, similar lighting, etc. and compare those over time. And if you have a size 18 something, try it on in a few weeks and then again a few weeks later. To see how it feels.
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I actually do these already. I just get flustered my belly doesn't want to shrink. I am basically loosing my butt anf boobs at this point lol. I guess its just hard to see specifically my belly not change, ya know?
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So sorry about the endo :( thats rough. I cut dairy down to basically cottage cheese an cheese from the pizzas my husband makes. I do sweets sometimes but i'm naturally starting to reject them more and more. I have thought about investing in plant proteins for my meals though. I try to do a lot of research to help myself focus on something other than my belly and the scale. Ty for sharing, pcos muddies thongs so much for us ya know? Normal healthy foods can cause our insulin resistance and hormones to go bonkers.
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I'm down two pant sizes this year but my belly isn't shrinking much because I have very large uterine fibroids. I might look for some maternity jeans. (Yoga pants are fine.) I went "shopping" in my attic last night and only found one pair of jeans that fit. When I was last this size I lived in South Florida, and didn't wear jeans.
Interestingly, while the jeans that fit in January now look ridiculously large on me, I can still wear the same size shirts. My bras have just changed from needing outer hooks to inner hooks.
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This is lower probability in your case, but also take a look at your posture, from the side.
It's super common these days to have a bit of a chin/head forward posture with rounded shoulders, and/or a bit of anterior pelvic tilt (top of pelvic bones forward of lower edge of pelvic bones, sort of - booty sticks out a bit more this way).
Either of those will tend to push any remaining central fat downward (mostly the head/neck/ one) and forward (mostly the hips one), making it look more prominent, and also actually measure wider than if standing more linear/upright with straighter neck and chin back, shoulders stacked above hips (not forward of them) and the shoulder blades pulled down the back and closer to each other.
*IF* there's any of that going on, there are exercise on YouTube to help with those things. Look for ones from actual credentialed physical therapists, and common terms for those things are kyphotic posture (not kyphosis which is skeletal/structural) or "nerd neck" for the head/shoulder thing (since we often get it from using phones/computers); and "anterior pelvic tilt" for the hip thing.0 -
This is lower probability in your case, but also take a look at your posture, from the side.
It's super common these days to have a bit of a chin/head forward posture with rounded shoulders, and/or a bit of anterior pelvic tilt (top of pelvic bones forward of lower edge of pelvic bones, sort of - booty sticks out a bit more this way).
Either of those will tend to push any remaining central fat downward (mostly the head/neck/ one) and forward (mostly the hips one), making it look more prominent, and also actually measure wider than if standing more linear/upright with straighter neck and chin back, shoulders stacked above hips (not forward of them) and the shoulder blades pulled down the back and closer to each other.
*IF* there's any of that going on, there are exercise on YouTube to help with those things. Look for ones from actual credentialed physical therapists, and common terms for those things are kyphotic posture (not kyphosis which is skeletal/structural) or "nerd neck" for the head/shoulder thing (since we often get it from using phones/computers); and "anterior pelvic tilt" for the hip thing.
I know my posture is horsed actually, always has been but a good chunk of my fat is up front. not on my back and sides. I have the B belly so i have that and i've had large breasts sense i was 13. I sport a D cup and although my band size has gone from a 46 to a 44 now, it is still a LOT of weight up front and i can't sit straight long due to pain in my back and hips. I don't know how to correct it without loosing the weight but as we all know, you can't "target" one area to loose fat like people claim, so i'm at the mercy of my own body here. I don't want nor can I ever afford surgery, so its one of those things i look at and just have to take it.0 -
kallen771991 wrote: »This is lower probability in your case, but also take a look at your posture, from the side.
It's super common these days to have a bit of a chin/head forward posture with rounded shoulders, and/or a bit of anterior pelvic tilt (top of pelvic bones forward of lower edge of pelvic bones, sort of - booty sticks out a bit more this way).
Either of those will tend to push any remaining central fat downward (mostly the head/neck/ one) and forward (mostly the hips one), making it look more prominent, and also actually measure wider than if standing more linear/upright with straighter neck and chin back, shoulders stacked above hips (not forward of them) and the shoulder blades pulled down the back and closer to each other.
*IF* there's any of that going on, there are exercise on YouTube to help with those things. Look for ones from actual credentialed physical therapists, and common terms for those things are kyphotic posture (not kyphosis which is skeletal/structural) or "nerd neck" for the head/shoulder thing (since we often get it from using phones/computers); and "anterior pelvic tilt" for the hip thing.
I know my posture is horsed actually, always has been but a good chunk of my fat is up front. not on my back and sides. I have the B belly so i have that and i've had large breasts sense i was 13. I sport a D cup and although my band size has gone from a 46 to a 44 now, it is still a LOT of weight up front and i can't sit straight long due to pain in my back and hips. I don't know how to correct it without loosing the weight but as we all know, you can't "target" one area to loose fat like people claim, so i'm at the mercy of my own body here. I don't want nor can I ever afford surgery, so its one of those things i look at and just have to take it.
Strengthening the postural back and shoulder muscles *may* help - the exercises for correcting rounded shoulders, head/chin-forward, slumping. No guarantees, and I'm not the woman to tell you anything more specific, exercise-wise: I lack experience with large breasts, used to have small ones, now have none.
I do have the B-belly tendency myself, but it's less visibly emphasized if my posture is good, and when I get my bodyweight into a healthy range.0
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