Depressed trying to lose weight with PCOS

Imgoing2makeit

Hi all. I had GB RNY 8/2007. I was never an over eater. I did make poor food choices & I did not exercise past the age of 14. I decided to get surgery after finding out I had PCOS. I had 3 miscarriages & it was suggested to me if I had surgery & lost weight it would be easier for me to conceive. Well...my HW was 300lbs & I only lost 80lbs getting to 220lbs. I got pregnant in 2009 & lost that pregnancy which caused me to go into severe depression to this date. I currently weigh 270lbs & would like to get within my ideal BMI with a goal lost of 125lbs. I've considered revision surgeries but I value my husband of 13yrs way too much to risk my life again. So here I am... I joined MFP to naturally lose weight. I've become obsessed with working out & don't know the correct amount of calories im supposed to intake. The MFP tools I believe overestimate caloric intake and just don't make since to me. Why if im trying to lose weight would I ever eat the calories that I've exercised off. I don't understand the logic behind their recommendations. Im 5'5" & 270lbs. I eat between 800-1100 calories per day. I don't sit up & eat junk either. I work out between 1hr & 2 1/2hrs some days as im desperately trying to get this weight off so I can get pregnant & provide my husband a child. My time is ticking as im about to be 33yrs old. Any advice or comments are needed and appreciated. I need HELP figuring out how to use this tool to my advantage so I can get results. Thanks for taking the time to read. I also will accept friends.

Marzaman

ur not supposed to eat the calories tht u burn when u excercise. thats the whole point.
ur just supposed to stick to ur daily goals.... and m sure if u stick to the routine u just mentioned, u should start seeing the differences soon.... just keep in mind to stick to the prog.
i had given up after 5 months, and started bingeing like b4 and gained alot of the weight back. and m back again on the diet.
best of luck to u, and hope u reach ur goal and and conceive soon

desertcrafty

You are supposed to eat back your exercise calories otherwise your body isn't getting the nutrition and "fuel" it needs. I'm pretty new to the site, but everything I've read on the message boards say you need to eat at least 1200 calories a day AND eat your exercise calories back. There is a "newbie" FAQ that explains everything. Good luck to you and don't give up!

SEishen

When I started my journey last May, I never EVER thought I'd be achieving and maintaining a weight of 115 pounds! 44 and Size 4! The secret? Mostly plant-based diet. There are science errors in it but the basis is sound: watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix. Start there.

jzammetti

You will likely damage your body eating that little. Search for the Roadmap thread and follwo the BMR and TDEE guidelines for 6 weeks - You will be impressed with the results.

entropy83

There are PCOS boards here- look under Groups at the top of your screen. Some people eat their calories some don't depending on your metabolism which for PCOS is a lil skewed, and in the general boards you will end up getting advice from people who don't really understand the variances of diet, medication, exercise, etc often recommended for PCOSers. I would say your calories a little too low for your activity level tho.

treagal

ur not supposed to eat the calories tht u burn when u excercise. thats the whole point.
ur just supposed to stick to ur daily goals.... and m sure if u stick to the routine u just mentioned, u should start seeing the differences soon.... just keep in mind to stick to the prog.
i had given up after 5 months, and started bingeing like b4 and gained alot of the weight back. and m back again on the diet.
best of luck to u, and hope u reach ur goal and and conceive soon

wrong! you are supposed to eat the calories back. it's fuel for your body, you need it. I'm 5'7, started at 253lbs 3 months ago and have lost 30lbs and a lot of inches. I usually burn about 400-500cals a day in exercise and I usually eat a few hundred back. I am rarely hungry and know that my muscles need the extra protein and such to build. It would be a waste for me to do what I am doing and not eat enough...

lbesaw

If you are too restrictive with your calories you are self-sabotoging yourself. I am sure MFP would have you up around 1600+ per day, yes? You CAN lose the weight AND eat enough to be totally satisfied. Please be kind to yourself and patient during your weight loss journey. It doesn't have to be hard or make you feel deprived, or have you killing yourself in the gym. You can eat moderately, exercise sensibly and get where you want to be. It's the permanent changes that will make and keep you successful. Concentrate on eating mindfully and healthfully, after all you are trying to nourish the body of a "healthy mom-to-be" not a malnourished runway model. I wish you many blessings on your journey to be the healthy person you see in your future. Have faith and stay the course--the weight will drop off......

misspastry

Well first off you're not eating enough. 800 calories is starving yourself. Your body needs the proper nutrients to function. Calculate what your BMR is and go from there. You need atleast 1200 calories a day. The more you weigh, the more calories you're supposed to have. I weigh 170 and I eat about 1400 calories a day and workout for an hour. I'm down 24 pounds. Sometimes I eat back my calories, sometimes I don't. It depends if I'm hungry or not.

Marzaman

ur not supposed to eat the calories tht u burn when u excercise. thats the whole point.
ur just supposed to stick to ur daily goals.... and m sure if u stick to the routine u just mentioned, u should start seeing the differences soon.... just keep in mind to stick to the prog.
i had given up after 5 months, and started bingeing like b4 and gained alot of the weight back. and m back again on the diet.
best of luck to u, and hope u reach ur goal and and conceive soon

wrong! you are supposed to eat the calories back. it's fuel for your body, you need it. I'm 5'7, started at 253lbs 3 months ago and have lost 30lbs and a lot of inches. I usually burn about 400-500cals a day in exercise and I usually eat a few hundred back. I am rarely hungry and know that my muscles need the extra protein and such to build. It would be a waste for me to do what I am doing and not eat enough...

Thnx. But its weird. Coz initially i would eat some or all of d cals i burn, n my weight jus stayed as it was. After a month or two, i dint eat the burnt cals back, and decreased my cals from 1220 to 1000, and then i strted to see my scales go down... N its nt lik m starving, if i feel hungry i do eat but the food choices r just much better from b4.

McFLoe

You can't eat that little. It makes no sense to lose weight in unhealthy way, it will damage your health and moreover, the weight will surely come back. You should always have a substantial breakfast (cereals, musli, eggs), give up eating fast and fatty food and eat a lot of fruit, vegetables and drink juices (the products that help to burn calories - grapefruits, green tea, spinach) And of course drink water, about 6 glasses a day. But as my experience shows, giving up eating fast food is the most effective thing that really works.

nanadeek

There are PCOS boards here- look under Groups at the top of your screen. Some people eat their calories some don't depending on your metabolism which for PCOS is a lil skewed, and in the general boards you will end up getting advice from people who don't really understand the variances of diet, medication, exercise, etc often recommended for PCOSers. I would say your calories a little too low for your activity level tho.

I agree. I have had my PCOS and insulin resistant diagnosis for a couple of years now, but after following normal "calories in, calories out" model of weight loss to mitigate my symptoms and try to conceive - I've been frustratingly going in circles and have only just started to accept the syndrome's difficulties and take a new approach.

I'm still working to find my personal sweet spot without going the way of medications but I can tell you in the tons of research and trial and error, for us PCOS Cysters it takes a three pronged approach: 1) Diet with a much lower carbohydrate intake than what MFP recommends for folks with normal insulin sensitivity and hormone levels offset by much higher protein, 2) daily exercise at least 30 minutes. I've heard weight lifting over cardio to burn up excess glycogen (sugar) in the muscles can make a world of difference for the insulin resistant (I'm still testing this). 3) Hormonal balance. Generally PCOSers have an underlying hormonal imbalance that causes our internal systems to work against each other if left unchecked negating any other diet or exercise work we're doing. I'm doing a lot of research and testing to find my own holistic cocktail of supplements that addresses my unique issues.

Basically I'm saying absorb the advice from others on their weight loss journey while being mindful that at its foundation is good general advice, but our bodies work a little differently and tweaks will have to be made to fit. If you want to take the guess work out of diet, you could try a diabetic/plant based/paleo/low carb eating model. You don't have to limit your calories, it just worsens the hormonal imbalance.

There are great PCOS groups here! Although awareness is not as high as some other syndromes, the internet is magic and there are resources out there. Yes, its ****ty, yes, its a lot of freaking work and no its not fair we can't lose like healthy folks but its possible! We can do it!!!

Good luck, my dear. Add me if you need another PCOS buddy.

LKArgh

After all you have been through, are you talking to a specialist? I would personally start both with a therapist to deal with the emotions from all you have faced, and ask the dr for a diet plan, maybe a reference to a dietician.