PCOS success stories without Metformin? Need Motivation!

I'm not a success yet as I have a loooong way to go. But I have lost over 40lbs since January.
This time I am simply sounding my callories and trying to meet my macros. I don't specifically avoid anything but do make sure it fits into my goals for the day. I did have success losing about 30lbs on a low carb (south beach) diet and metformin before, but I -felt- like I was on a diet and it wasn't sustainable for me.

This time I'm simply looking at this like a lifestyle change and I'm not feeling deprived.

Exercise wise I 've been doing circuit training 3x per week and I just recently started C25k.

I'm down 87 with PCOS, diabetes, and an underactive thyroid. You absolutely can do it without Metformin. I've found that lessening (not eliminating!) carbs has really helped.

I have pcos. Just starting my journey. I have 80+ lbs to loose. Feel free to add me. I think support from other people who understand the frustration will be key for success.

I am a work in progress and I too have PCOS, I'm glad you started this thread, it is easy to forget that we are not alone in our struggle : )
Anyone can add me, it is nice to have support and give support.

I have lost 20lbs total(from my highest weight of 170is, I'm 5'2), 14lbs lost since I joined MFP

I do not use metformin or birth control, when I was younger I was on BC but it never helped...and I gained 30 lbs...cysts continued

I was always athletic, I gained weight because I ate very unhealthy...fast food all the time.

I've beenup and down a lot, but I know it is because of what I eat, when I take weight loss and a healthy life style seriously, I lose! This time my goal is to lose weight, build muscle, and keep the weight off!
I'm doing this by:
Eating much cleaner(no fast food, only on my 'cheat' day)
I only drink water!( no soda or juices, barely drink alcohol(never liked it much to begin with), tea sometimes, or infused fruit water)
I try not to eat any white bread or white rice, if there's no option I'll have very little and put more veggies on my plate.
I started making 'Green' smoothies every morning(celery, asparagus, spinach, beets, carrots, cucumbers, & water..sometimes banana or blueberries added)...at first tatsed like crap, but now that I know how good I feel for the hwole day if I drink it..I actually look forward to it. It helps burn fat, fight cancer, keeps you full for longer, gives you energy, and supplies a lot of water! I drink this before my workouts;

I start by stretching then,
I run on elliptical,(or outside, or treadmill) at level 8 for 3-5 miles doing HIIT, fast as I can for 1 minute, then run at a good pace for 2, and back to sprinting!
After that I use a bike for 2 or 3 miles, I try to break a sweat and keep it going, even if it means doing Hills.
After warming up I stretch again, then I hit the weights for resistance training
chest press, flyes, curls, tricep dips
when I have time I add in lower body workouts such as squats, lunges
After every workout I sit in the gym's sauna for approx. 25 minutes, and do my ab workouts here, great way to wind down and sweat more!

I do this routine about 3x a week sometimes 4, I work nights so one of my biggest challenges is CONSISTANCY...finding the time and motivation can be hard sometimes, but when I slack at the gym it shows in my clothes and in the mirror almost immediately..so I am my own motivation, I like how I feel about myself and how I look when I exercise, when that doesn't work I look at success pictures and stories, that always works!

Good Luck on your journey! Just remember you can and will accomplish your goals.

Paleo/Primal diet works for me.

And plenty of exercise. Definitely don't need drugs. I did a lot of research on this for a uni course I was doing and in Holland they had found diet and exercise are MORE effective than metformin. Good luck.

I've had PCOS since I was a teen - it's been HELL!

Honestly, the only way I was to EVER lose any weight with PCOS (I went down from 252 to 192 myself this way) is to keep an eye on hormonal elements.

PCOS is an edocrine disorder and we have way too much estrogen. And the bummer about it is that estrogen is everywhere! So we have to be really crazy about things that include more estrogen around us - these are things like laundry detergents and cleaners we use, plastic that we drink out of, skin care (skin is our biggest organ!), soybeans, gmo foods (these really disrupt our hormones!) and even scents. Did you know lavender has a lot of xeno-estrogens in it?

I have been very dilligent about learning all of these things since my 20's when I was ttc my first baby (in vitro) then the next two came on their own as my body got healthier.

While food is a portion of what triggers our PCOS (soy, gmo foods) a lot of it has to do with our environment as well.

Hope this is helpful to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all!

I am a PCOS girl but no cysts, just amennhorreic (sp? irregular periods basically) and high testosterone. Took metformin when ttc (and it worked!) but everything since then has been just me..

my understanding is that it is easy to put weight on and hard to get it off with PCOS. But that is the clue - 'hard' not 'impossible'.

Portion control, keeping an eye on your macros, and getting yourself moving will all help you beat this.
Oh, and I can't recommend lifting heavy things and putting them back down again enough, wish I'd discovered lifting years ago! I'm on 2000 cals/day as a result AND I have a waist for the first time ever!

some before/afters on my profile

I have had PCOS since my early teens, which is when I really started gaining weight.

For me, I credit two things:

1) I took birth control pills, starting about 8 years ago. I know they don't help some, but they helped me get on track.
2) I started regularly doing martial arts about 6 years ago. I love them, and since I have been doing martial arts I have even gone off the bc for over a year at a time and my blood sugars, cycles, etc. stayed regulated. I think (but cannot be sure) that the physical activity really helped stabilize me.

I lost 33 lbs last year. I put 15 back on while dissertating this spring, but THAT'S over, so I'm back on track and up to -22 from beginning. It's probably more since I haven't been able to weigh myself in the two weeks.

I lost 40 lbs before i had my son without Metformin. I hate metformin. I did the pcos diet of 40% 30% 30% and ate little to no sugar and I did it

I am not a success story...YET! I have just been watching the portion control and working out more. I have only lost 7 pounds in 2 months, but that is SEVEN pounds! I hated metformin... It made me feel so terrible! I am dreading the day I have to go back tot he doctor and she tells me she wants me back on it. I have 10 more pounds to lose first. I gained too much weight in the last year of TTC with different meds and procedures, so she said she wanted me to lose 15 before she could work with me again! So that is the goal!! Anyone can friend me if they need some support or motivation!!!!

I lost 50 pounds without Metformin using diet and exercise (and for some of it, I was on a doctor-supervised low-carb, very low calorie diet... 3 weeks and 20 pounds off). However, I have been plateaued for about a year now. I started taking Metformin about a month ago but it hasn't helped. It did seem to make my weight more "stable" and less prone to day-to-day fluctuations.

So long as I take Metformin with food, I don't have any side effects. If I forget to eat with it, I can usually find myself in the bathroom 2 hours later.

I am currently in the process of working with my new GYN to fully understand my individual condition and figuring out the best course of action for me. I am very intrigued at the whole concept of excessive estrogen in my system because I have a lot of things going on and I hate to think they are not all related somehow.

I am curious to find out how all of you were diagnosed with PCOS?? I went to a new Dr he did blood work and told me that I had PCOS, he also said that I had hormonal imbalanced. he put me on hormone medication, metformin and thyroid medicine.

I hated the way I felt with the medication, I felt like I was retaining a lot more water and was gaining weight vs loosing. I went for a second opinion took the medication and my blood work and the Dr told me that I should be on any medication that according to the blood work all my levels were fine. I did not need hormone medication, thyroid medication or the metformin. He said that the test I had done was not even testing me for PCOS.

I know i can drop the weight without any medication

I was diagnosed by blood tests and a internal ultrasound.