PCOS buddies??

I have been struggling with my weight for what feels like, my whole life. When in 7th grade, I was diagnosed with PCOS. Since then I have gained and lost several hundred pounds (yo yo dieting) I'm currently on a journey to lose 100 lbs. I would love to get to know others struggling through the same problems I have! Can't wait to see how well we all do in the months to come!!

I'm here to be partly encouraging, partly realistic.

The reality is that with PCOS, your weight gain is almost certainly not due to your "bad choices". That's stupid diet community talk made to induce guilt in you. I've seen phrases around here like "I'm trying not to blame my PCOS" - well that's silly. It IS your PCOS that makes you fat. Anyone who tells you otherwise desrves a punch in the face or to be set on fire. I am not even joking. People who guilt trip you for your illlness don't deserve to live. HANG ON TO THAT.

That's the good part - let go of guilt. It isn't your fault.

Hee's the sucky part -
throw out whatever MFP says about what calories you need to eat to lose weight. It is too high. Whether or not you have insulin resistance along with your PCOS, your metabolism is simply slower than a normal woman's. It just is. It also is untrue that your metabolism is higher with your higher weight. The average woman with PCOS only burns about 1500 calories a day. To lose weight, then, you will have to drop your calories REALLY low unless you are on metformin and it is working for you. Metformin doesn't work for me because I don't have insulin resistance. I spent some time on WW and after an initial weight drop I could NOT lose weight although faithfully eating the 1500-1600 I was allowed, never, ever cheating, exercising daily.

You will have to work harder than normal women to lose weight, you will be starving constantly, and no one will give you any credit or encouragement for the extra work you do. Only you will know what you're going through, and maybe, if you're lucky, a few people close to you.

The good news is that it's possible and YOU will know how hard you've worked.

So then - at least SIXTY (not thirty) minutes of HARD exercise a day, and eating under 1200 - ideally, under 1000. Take vitamins, lot's of vitamins - there's no way to get proper nutrition eating this way. I managed to lose 85 pounds this way the other year then went back to eating a "healthy" amount (2100 a day) and gained back 50 pounds in a year. You can't eat like normal people. It doesn't matter how many people are going to tell you otherwise. You can't diet like a normal person and expect to get anywhere.

Good luck.

Loosing weight will help heaps especially if you guys are trying to have kids because the weight loss will even out her hormones. Having PCOS basically means yourallergic to wheat, diary and yeast. Also the less the food is processed the better it will be for her. She should try Pregnitude it's meant to help with regulating periods and access hair.

I thought she just had to eat a low carb diet, like 100 grams or so, and watch her sugers. What is wrong with wheat and dairy?

All of those things are just fad diets.

Women with PCOS half to eat about half of what other dieters do to lose weight. That's the hard truth.

For the record, I have PCOS and struggled horribly with a 1200 calorie diet. I lost a little weight initially, but then I started feeling really tired, sluggish, and started losing my drive to go to the gym as I had a constant headache. And I love going to the gym. I do much better on a 1700-1900 calorie limit. The biggest thing (for me at least) is eating pretty much constantly. I never have big meals, just eat small amounts every hour or so. It has helped my metabolism so much. Eating within an hour of waking up helped a lot too. That was hard for me, I was never a breakfast person.

I was on the birth control pill for years, and when I quit taking it, I gained 30 pounds in 2 months and slowly added 5 pounds or so a month until my doctor tested and told me about PCOS. I was put back on the pill, and that helped. They didn't put me on Metformin, as I didn't have insulin resistance.

I'm just trying to say, I don't agree that you have to starve yourself if you have PCOS. I'm no doctor, but I know that wasn't enough to keep me functioning.

Please add me, too. I have had PCOS a while (since age 14 - I'm 32 now) and I am very scared of becoming a diabetic. I need to lose some weight!