Paleo diet.

Jward712

So I went to my new gy yesterday and he is re running my labs for pcos and has placed me on a new diet and exercise plan. He told me that I cant use a scale to weigh myself, I have to just watch and see how my clothes fit. The diet is PALEO diet and i am in the process of reading the book "the Paleo Couch" which is a real eye opener. The diet seems reasonable but he wouldnt call it a diet but a lifestyle change needed for women with PCOS. Carbs dont get along with us and with this diet it is about getting healthy while losing weight instead of doing the yo-yo dieting. I was also told that he wants me to lose 10% of my body fat which is about 25lbs. With the Paleo diet there is also a new way of exercise listed in the book stating that your heart rate should never go over 170 because then you are just burning off your lunch from that day instead of the fat that is stored in your tummy. This was the first doctor to actually sit down and talk for an hour about what to do and how to do it and why. He said in 6 months if i have made the changes then and only then will we discuss TTC. I was also told to prevent TTC until the 6 months was up. He told me on a daily he sees mothers come in 300lbs or bigger and cant keep up with there toddlers so he was glad to catch me early and to help me get to where i need to be to live a life with my kids. Im kind of interested in this because it make sense.. I start tomorrow on the diet and exercise which is just walking 5 days a week for 30 to 45 mins at a brisk pace while watching my heart rate.

I guess my main question is has anyone tried this before?

Dragonwolf

I do Primal, which is a variation of Paleo that includes dairy. I've only lost a little bit of weight (#$#%# PCOS making my body hold on to the weight for dear life!), but I've had a bunch of other good effects from it, including fewer headaches, more level energy (no more crashes two hours after eating), more satiety (I can eat less and not feel ravenous), and clearer skin.

There's a group here - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/54-primal-paleo-support-group - that's a great resource for all things Paleo. I highly recommend joining it.

A word of warning, though - the first week or so is the generally the toughest, especially if you were previously a big grain/carb eater. A lot of people experience what's known as "carb flu" and it's exactly what it sounds like - flu-like symptoms that come from the combination of reducing your carb intake and eliminating grains from your diet. Some people just get a slight headache, while others get the full monty - shakes, chills, etc. It'll pass, though, and you should start feeling better within a week or two.

The guys at Whole 9 Life (a great Paleo-based resource; their Whole 30 challenge is more strict Paleo) have a great timeline of what to expect - http://www.whole9life.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/

kpelky

Hello!

In March, my doc told me that I have pcos, and I did a bunch of research, and started paleo. Just like Dragonwolf predicted, I got "carb flu". Not gonna lie, it sucked. The good part is that it stopped! It took two weeks for mine to fully stop but it does stop. I was jogging, trying to do a 5k, changing my diet to paleo, etc etc, and I actually had REALLY good results. My first 15 was lost in 6-7 weeks. It was probably mostly water weight but I'll take it, I felt a million times better! Since that first burst, I have yo-yo'd a little bit, but thats because I moved from the states to S. Africa, and I am having to adjust to that change.

Your doctor sounds like a really good doctor. He anticipated, from his experience, a situation that you might not have, and I definitely didnt, think of, and gave you some advice to avoid that problem. Yes, its absolutely your choice of whether you want to follow that advice or not, but his desire to help is apparent!

Anywho, if you want any recipes or anything... or if you just want to chitchat about how this thing sucks, haha, you let me know....

Also, the coolest recipe I found to help me through my dairy cravings (which is what I struggled with the most) was a cauliflower (fake alfredo) sauce.... it uses cooked cauliflower, olive oil, salt/pepper and something else.... the recipe suggests putting milk in it, but I left it out, and its fantastic (I have also put lemon juice in it at times, which is super tasty as well).... I have used it on chicken and broccoli, and all sorts of other things (fish, green beans, etc etc) and it makes me happy cause its delicious! Link: http://pinchofyum.com/creamy-cauliflower-sauce

Have fun and work hard!

mjrose514

So how's it coming?!