BTW - are you doing rent the runway? I love that site!

Yes, I may do it. I'm going out shopping with my mother to see if I can possibly fit into a size 12 dress. I'm bringing a pair of spanx with me too!

The belly is ridiculous. My mom is a photographer and shot my best friends wedding this past summer. When she was going through the photos, she sent me a bunch and talked about how from the back, I look like I am a normal weight and then I turn around and it is nothing but stomach. I have lost weight before, and the belly is definitely the last thing to go. I personally swear by shape wear for any special occasion. I did go gluten free for a while and noticed that my belly did not get as large t/o the day.
Also does anyone else have the thing where when they first wake up, even though I have weight, your belly is somewhat flatter, and then by the time you eat something, even if it is a piece of fruit, your belly grows. It blows my mind. It happens every morning.

Also I am so glad that this group is on here. Dealing with PCOS is not something that people can understand unless they have it, so it feels good to have people to be able to relate.

In the last 75 pounds I've lost, my stomach measurement has dropped 3.5 inches. That's it. Every other part of me is dramatically smaller, but no, not my gut. My pants size is still huge because they have to fit around my stomach, but the butt and hips are all ridiculously baggy. It's why I've never understood the need for a belt - if the waist of my pants was too big, they would simply fall off as there is nothing else keeping them up.

I totally feel you on this. I have been having to buy pants that are too big in the thighs/butt and look ridiculous, but they just fit over my stomach. Hate it Hopefully it will go down someday...

I have the belly also. I'm very much an apple shape (which I've heard most women with PCOS are). I'm working on losing the weight and adding muscle to my lower body to balance out my proportions.

Tagging this thread for future reference. I totally have the "capital B" shaped PCOS belly, and it drives me insane. I lose fat from everywhere but the gut.

A personal trainer that I saw wanted me to go completely keto for at least 2 weeks to see if that would help shrink my stomach. I told him no way was that going to happen. I can do 100 carbs or less without TOO much difficulty, and easily 125 carbs or less. 0-25? No way. I need to find a way to reduce the size without causing me to have a mental snap and doing something that would put me behind bars Also, I'm always up for friends with open diaries who don't mind me stealing some meal ideas!

I have PCOS and a fatty lower belly, but I never felt they were related.

The metformin will not necessarily help you to lose any fat, it just helps your body to better metabolize the sugar/carbs you consume. So in essence, it will help you not to gain more than to help you lose.

I've been losing quite steadily just by watching my calorie intake (I don't do low carb, it's too hard for me since I'm not a fan of most meat, although I do limit my added sugar and refined carbohydrates and most doctors have suggested low carb diets), taking metformin, and exercising at least an hour a day (at least an hour every day is key to burning excess glucose in your system, any less than an hour is not effective in that regard.)

Since you said you're already at a healthy weight, I would just up your exercise and slightly limit your caloric intake and I imagine you'll see results.

I'm curious...I've heard this "at least 1 hour a day" thing before. SO, my question is 1 hour of cardio? or cardio combined with resistance? Do you practice this? Curious what you do I'm currently worked up to 40 mins of cardio 5x a week but i want to make a difference with my "pcos belly" too

I use to do one hour of aerobic (cardio, if you will) exercises a day and recently switched it up to 20-30 minutes most days as I don't always have the time to give up an hour plus time for strength training/lifting. I've never read the "at least 1 hour a day" thing, I've read that to maximize glucose burning you need to do aerobic exercise 3-5 days a week for 30 minutes. Funny enough, my belly still continued to reduce at the same rate at a reduced time so maybe there is some truth to that. Oh, and when I say aerobic exercise, I mean 30 minutes at 75%-85% of my maximum heart rate. In addition, I lift and do resistance training (squats/planks/push-ups/band work/wall sits) 3 times a week for 30 or so minutes at a 70%-75% HR.

Everyone is different and requires different eating/exercise needs so you may need to play around with it a bit, consistently log, and then analyze your data. Adding weight-lifting to my routine (no, not 10lb dumbbells) and core/resistance training (with my pt) is where I've seen the biggest difference.

I have the same issue! My stomach is the place where I tend to gain weight, followed by my hips. I've noticed that my stomach feels extra bloated/large after eating gluten.

I'm new to the group-feel free to add me on here!

I have the same issue! My stomach is the place where I tend to gain weight, followed by my hips. I've noticed that my stomach feels extra bloated/large after eating gluten.

I'm new to the group-feel free to add me on here!

same thing for me too! I was literally just talking to my coworker about maybe trying this whole gluten free thing. i hear its a little tough though and the motivation to not cheat....sheesh idk if I have that yet lol. Do you follow gluten free?

Gluten-free is hell. I have a cousin with Celiacs disease, and it took her a couple years to adjust to GF eating. I've heard that Paleo is essentially gluten-free, so you could try that. My partner and I might be going gluten-free next year once our new insurance kicks in and he can get tested, because he's showing a lot of signs of gluten intolerance (inflammation and joint pain, namely). How it affects the belly, I'm honestly not sure. I'll be interested in what KatyAverill says, too.