calling all PCOS-ers

beautifulreason

so this is for the ladies that suffer from pcos...what type of foods do you normally stick too??

623Hernandez

a low carb diet is best for PCOS

NikkisNewStart

I eat whatever I want to eat (carbs included)... I prefer cleaner foods b/c they are healthier than processed... other than that- I don't impose any restrictions and it has and continues to work for me.

scatterbunny

Popping into this thread for my first-ever post on the forums. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 8 years ago, when I was 24. At that time my symptoms were already pretty bad, I have pretty much every symptom of PCOS, including insulin resistance. Until 6 weeks ago, though, I never had enough motivation to change my ways long-term.

I decided to try a moderately low carb diet because I can't do hardcore low/no carb; I love fruit, and I don't see the harm in a slice of whole grain bread once in awhile. I decided to try to stick with 20-30% carb, 20-30% protein, and 40-60% fat. Ideally I would like to do 20% carb, 25% protein and 55% fat, but I haven't succeeded in keeping my carbs that low. I'm striving to keep my sugars low (under 40 grams, as much as possible from natural fruit/vegetable/dairy sources instead of refined sugar). I'm totally avoiding pasta. I'll eat a slice or two of Ezekiel 4:9 bread or something similar (low/no sugar, high fiber, as natural as possible) at breakfast and/or lunch. Most of my carbs come from veggies and fruit, though (some from yogurt, but I only buy plain Greek yogurt and stir my own fresh fruit in to keep the sugars/carbs down).

I'm mostly trying to keep my carbs low, my protein and fat high, my sugar low, fiber high, and eat as much clean, whole foods as possible. I've lost almost 10 pounds in not quite 6 weeks with diet alone (no exercise to speak of in the past 4ish weeks). I started out at 1400 calories/day but recently increased to 1500/day. I'll usually eat two eggs scrambled with a green onion and two slices of Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeat (nitrate/nitrite-free), or the scrambled eggs with a couple of slices of bacon or sausage. Sometimes I'll have a slice of toast, sometimes not. I'll do steak and eggs if I have leftover steak from the night before.Breakfast is usually 300-350 calories, mostly protein. Lunch can be tuna salad or chicken salad or egg salad on one slice of high-fiber/natural toast, with a half cup of cottage cheese and half a cup of fruit. Sometimes I skip the toast (especially if I had toast at breakfast, or if dinner will be higher in carbs) and I'll have the tuna or chicken salad on top of the cottage cheese over a huge bed of salad greens. Tomorrow's lunch will be tonight's dinner leftovers: a Mexican-inspired cabbage salad with steak, and probably some fruit. Sometimes lunch is more of a snack, something like a couple slices of lunchmeat wrapped around a string cheese, or a string cheese and some almonds. Dinners are really varied, but almost always consist of a protein-rich main dish and at least two non-starchy vegetable sides. Veggie sides for me are usually 1 to 1.5 cups, so I eat at least 2-3 cups of veggies at dinner alone. I use flavorful marinades and spice rubs and avoid calorie-dense/carb-filled sauces and breadings. Dessert is almost always fruit-based, usually fruit and Greek yogurt, or a fruit smoothie. I usually keep breakfast and lunch at 300-350 calories, dinner at 400-500 calories, snacks around 200 calories, and dessert at 150-250 calories.

Diabetes runs in my family (two cousins my age--early 30s--are already insulin-dependent), and my PCOS symptoms are driving me crazy. I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I'm cautiously optimistic that this moderate-carb (and mostly unrefined carbs), higher fat, higher protein way of eating will work for me.

smartipants

Props to you luvnmy2sides! I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago when I was 25 and its now in full effect. The side effects really bring me down on the daily. Gyno wanted to put me on birth control to get me regular and I refused. I have never taken birth control and didn't want to start now , so I went to a natruopatic doctor and loved it but havent been back yet. Money!! lol. Anyways I don't know where to start to even try to tame this monster, but your post has me thinking in the right direction.

lcarter25

I feel for you ladies

I am borderline pcos but i have none of the side affects you guys have and i think its cos i lost weight a few years ago (when i was in my teens i had periods for months on end and weighed over 13stone, now im just over 11).

It seems like you are all doing so well and i hope that if i do develop more symptoms i deal with the challenges as well as you guys

x

beautifulreason

thank you ladies for taking the time out to respond to my post....this seems so over whelming but i know i can do it...

this week im going to start out as if im on the akins diet.. (the first 2 weeks eat nothing but meat) and drink water..but instead of two weeks im going to do it for one week..and the second week im going to bring the veggies.
during the times i feel hungry and need a snack,i plan to snack on peanuts (as i heard that's apart of the pcos diety

im going to limit my fruit intake as well and for surely cut out all the junk food and sweets....

scatterbunny

Smartipants, thanks. My doctor, in the past, also wanted me to go in birth control pills. In fact, that's the *only* thing she wanted to do. I had to push to try Metformin. I ended up going off of that fairly quickly because I just couldn't handle the side effects. I've had no health insurance for years, so I've had no blood tests since my diagnosis, and no way to afford medication even if I wanted to take it. I have to admit, the PCOS problems are getting the better of me lately, and I find myself wishing for meds more and more often (for me, specifically the excess testosterone that causes the hirsutism and male-pattern hair loss are the worst). That's also a huge part of the reason I started the weight loss/healthier diet thing 6 weeks ago. I'm trying to honestly say that I'm doing all I possibly can for my health, so *if* meds become an inevitability, I can truly say that it was a last resort, not a result of my laziness and unwillingness to change. I firmly believe that food is more powerful than people think; food can be a drug. Food can cause drug-like highs, and withdrawal-like lows. Real, whole foods are designed to work with our bodies, to keep us healthy and working properly. Manufactured foods are not, therefore our bodies quit working right when full of bad fuel. I actually include refined/processed foods like flour/sugar in the manufactured foods/bad foods category, and am working very hard at only ingesting breads made from sprouted grains (like the Ezekiel bread) and no refined sugar at all (honey when absolutely necessary, but extremely sparingly).

I actually believe that tons of veggies and a moderate amount of fruit is a good thing, which is why I won't commit to a truly Atkins-type diet. I'm aiming for 70-110 carbs/day (ideally no more than 90-95, though). I try to get almost all of those carbs from veggies and fruit. A few come from dairy (Greek yogurt, primarily) and an even fewer come from sugar/honey. I see a lot of benefits to eating lots of veggies and fruit (and not OVEReating on animal products), so although I believe keeping carbs in check with PCOS is super, super-important, I try very hard not to eat more than a standard serving of meat at each meal. Eating Greek yogurt instead of regular is a great way to up your protein intake in a healthy way (instead of upping your meat intake). It has way more protein than regular yogurt, and it's creamier, too. I buy plain and mash fresh fruit to stir in. If the fruit just isn't sweet enough, that's when I'll break down and use half a tsp. of honey to sweeten it more. Cottage cheese is great for protein, too, as well as nuts. Be careful with nuts, though. Almonds, for example, are almost 200 calories for only 23 nuts. The protein is worth it, but think of nuts as a snack that needs to be measured out ahead-of-time. If you're like me, with a bag of nuts next to you, you'll eat half the bag without even thinking. *blush*

Anyway, I'm no expert, only been working at this for 6 weeks, as I said...but I'm the type to research everything to death. When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, I was online 24/7 for months, reading everything I could find. I've known for years that a low-carb diet is usually best for PCOSers dealing with insulin resistance, I just never had the self-discipline and motivation to do anything about that knowledge. I've always loved to cook, and always cooked a varied diet with lots of veggies and fruit, so I felt like I was doing the best I could. In reality, I was fooling myself. Our portions were out of whack, we ate way too many carbs/starchy vegetables, and way too many sweets/desserts. Even if I'm making "healthy" homemade cookies or brownies, they're *still* cookies and brownies. LOL! I've had to be kind of obsessive and break out the measuring spoons/cups and really train myself as to what a proper amount looks like. Calories add up fast with things like butter/olive oil/sour cream/salad dressing/etc. I'm an "eyeball it" kind of cook, so this has been a challenge, but as the pounds have come off, I can say the work has been totally worth it.

That said, (TMI warning) I'm frustrated at the moment because I'm on day 3 of the second menstrual cycle in 6-8 months, I weighed myself today, and I've gained back over 4 of the almost 10 pounds I've lost so far. I've read a bit online and it appears that for some women, weight gain of 3-7 pounds during their period is normal, so I'm trying not to freak out...but it was really disheartening to see that huge jump when I'd been losing so steadily for so many weeks, and nothing significantly changed in my diet to cause a weight gain. I'm just hoping in the next week or two it all melts away, LOL, so I can convince myself it's just water weight.

TrufflePig

Hi ladies, I was diagnosed with PCOS 5 years ago, but I'm only now trying to really do something about it. When I was 16 I stopped getting periods for 2 years and gained 45 pounds in about 4 months. I was on BC for awhile but stopped because it made me crazy. Now I take chaste tree berry extract every day and it has restored my normal periods. I still suffer from skin conditions, though. I am slowly trying to cut out all refined sugars/carbs because I feel 1000% better without them. I just started this 'lifestyle change' about 5 days ago, but I am very excited about actually taking control of my health again!

canterodesigns

Hello all I have had PCOS since I was about 14/15. I am currently 30 years old and I have had the baby fever. I have ignored treatment for a long time due to not being knowledgeable about the "disease" it self (as well as doctors not knowing much about it either until maybe the last 4/5 years.) I have been on Metformin before but I have read so many horror stories (when taking the medication it may cause damage to either the liver or kidneys I forget which it was) this was the main reason why I refuse to take it. I dont understand the point in medicating a health issue only to develop another health issue. I have taken progestrin which is supposed to help regulate the cycles because I do not want to take birth control. I am now going through a series of procedures (blood work, Hysterocopy/biopsy and sonogram) to come make sure it hasn't turned into cancer and to discuss medicinal treatments. I would suggest finding an EXCELLENT doctor who is well versed in PCOS to do all of these things. I live in NY and see Dr. Mohan Mahadkar. I am currently going to the gym 2/3 times a week I usually spend anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours (treadmill 30mins, bicycle 30 mins, arm, leggs and ab reps for the remainder hour.) I have been eating egg whites on english muffins, greek yogurt, oatmeal for breakfeast. black beans with brown rice, sugar snap peas/veggies and chicken breast/ turket or fish for lunch and dinner, lunch is usually small portions of left over dinner. If I snack its usually fruit veggies and yogurt. I bought a juicer and plan on starting to use that frequently to get in my fruits and veggies as well. I DO NOT drink any soda only WATER & SELTZER. occassionally i will drink juice but do my best to refrain from it because of the sugar. If I have sweets I limit it to something small and only once a day if at all. I also drink lots of herbal teas. I have had many issues like everyone else with the weight fluctuation. Once I start a consistent work out and eating patter I will up date. This is definitely not easy to go through and the many women that dont have this issue have no idea how hard this struggle really is. In any capacity stay strong ladies and keep up the good work. Good this come to those who wait!

fishgutzy

Never been diagnosed PCOS. But I was pre-diabetic with moderately high cholesterol and triglycerides.

I set my goals at 20C 25P 55F. Though my target is set to 2 pounds per week and I usually come under, weight loss is closer to 1 to 1.25 per week. But it doesn't matter that much to me. I'm losing.
My blood work shows that I am no longer pre-diabetic and my cholesterol numbers are the best they have been in my adult life.
My blood pressure and resting heart rate are lower too. Even after kicking the beta blocker.

My neice was diagnosed with type 2 after having GD. Her doc put her on 100g carb max per day. Within 6 months she was no longer clinically diabetic.
That says something.

Because i use a percentage target rather than an absolute max C gram count, I am probably not considered a pure low carber. I'd probably lose faster if I did. But so far this is working for me.