Hi -- New Here
CMC_Mom29
Posts: 2 Member
Hi.
I'm new to this group as well as to My Fitness Pal. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 13 years ago. Since then, I've had three beautiful children (10, 6, and 2) in spite of what my doctors said.
What I haven't been able to overcome, however, is my issues with weight. If you go by the BMI index for my height, I'm about 145 lbs. overweight. Honestly, though, I'd be ecstatic if I lost 100. I'm considered "pre-diabetic", though I'm not on insulin. I have issues with low blood sugar (diagnosed with hypoglycemia at age 16), so I have to eat regularly, whether I want to or not.
Over the years, I've switched to wheat breads or wraps, cut down my soda intake to less than one can a day (not even every day), increased my protein intake, and tried to be conscious of portion sizes. Makes NO difference. The only time I've lost weight is while I was pregnant -- with my first child, I lost 20 lbs during the first three months due to Morning Sickness. With the other two, I had gestational diabetes; I ended up losing a proportional amount of weight to what I was gaining with the baby. After birth, I'd lose any extra that I gained in the first two weeks -- and then it would stop. Breastfeeding didn't even help burn calories for me (baby #3).
I've tried Nutri-System (horrible food; lost one pound during the first month despite following the plan). I signed up for WW twice, each time being completely intimidated by the whole tracking-your-food-thing. Most of the time, I had no idea what the breakdowns were TO track, and if I tried to search for something, I'd get like 500 results to sort through. I don't have time for that.
Two of my children have Autism; both my parents are elderly and are suffering from illnesses that require me to help care for them. I work full time (desk job). My stress levels are off the charts. My crutch? Typically food. For it's not feeling full, it's being emotionally satisfied. I can't seem to get past this.
Anyway, enough of my sob story. I was hoping to meet others who suffer from at least some of the challenges that I do, and hear success stories of things others have tried and have worked.
Thanks.
I'm new to this group as well as to My Fitness Pal. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 13 years ago. Since then, I've had three beautiful children (10, 6, and 2) in spite of what my doctors said.
What I haven't been able to overcome, however, is my issues with weight. If you go by the BMI index for my height, I'm about 145 lbs. overweight. Honestly, though, I'd be ecstatic if I lost 100. I'm considered "pre-diabetic", though I'm not on insulin. I have issues with low blood sugar (diagnosed with hypoglycemia at age 16), so I have to eat regularly, whether I want to or not.
Over the years, I've switched to wheat breads or wraps, cut down my soda intake to less than one can a day (not even every day), increased my protein intake, and tried to be conscious of portion sizes. Makes NO difference. The only time I've lost weight is while I was pregnant -- with my first child, I lost 20 lbs during the first three months due to Morning Sickness. With the other two, I had gestational diabetes; I ended up losing a proportional amount of weight to what I was gaining with the baby. After birth, I'd lose any extra that I gained in the first two weeks -- and then it would stop. Breastfeeding didn't even help burn calories for me (baby #3).
I've tried Nutri-System (horrible food; lost one pound during the first month despite following the plan). I signed up for WW twice, each time being completely intimidated by the whole tracking-your-food-thing. Most of the time, I had no idea what the breakdowns were TO track, and if I tried to search for something, I'd get like 500 results to sort through. I don't have time for that.
Two of my children have Autism; both my parents are elderly and are suffering from illnesses that require me to help care for them. I work full time (desk job). My stress levels are off the charts. My crutch? Typically food. For it's not feeling full, it's being emotionally satisfied. I can't seem to get past this.
Anyway, enough of my sob story.
I was hoping to meet others who suffer from at least some of the challenges that I do, and hear success stories of things others have tried and have worked.Thanks.
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Replies
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Hi and welcome!
I'm just starting to try to lose the weight also, even tho I was dx with pcos at a very young age I never gave it much thought. It wasn't until I tried to lose weight the beginning of this year, and no matter what I did, how much I exercised or how little I ate, I didn't lose hardly any weight.
so I went to the dr and we discussed the pcos and how many women who have pcos have insulin issues and she put me on metformin. its helped A LOT along with a low carb diet.
Many women with pcos have to go low carb to see any results as all the hormones and such in our bodies react to the carbs in a bad way.
there are many others here who can say it better and explain it better than me, but we are all glad your here!0 -
I second the Metformin.
There was a point before I was on it, where I was eating low-carb Paleo, tracking calories on MFP, doing MMA two days a week, lifting three days a week, and still not losing weight. Had I been able to stay with my MMA trainer, I'd have made a bet with him about losing weight, confident that I wouldn't, because of the extreme to which I had already gone and had zero success (you can see the details on my blog here).
It wasn't until I started Metformin that I was able to start losing weight, and can now do it without nearly as much effort. Metformin pretty literally saved my life.
Also, I recommend checking out Paleo/Primal and/or other low-carb, high-fat diets. Many women with PCOS respond well to cutting out gluten (which is why I mention Paleo, because it's a grain-free eating framework that encourages whole foods over "fake-wheat" products) as well as drastically reducing their carb intake, which works with the Metformin by naturally controlling the insulin response from food.
Low carb sounds counterintuitive when you're hypoglycemic, and it may be rough getting through the withdrawal period, but controlling the amount of sugar (carbohydrates) you put into your body will in turn control the amount of insulin your body tries to release (it's the insulin that is pushing your blood sugar down, because that's part of what insulin does). Also, high fat is required, because protein also triggers an insulin response in the body, which you don't want (so you want to just eat enough protein to maintain lean body mass), fat does not trigger this response. And no, fat is not the devil and won't make you fat.
http://lowcarbhighfatskigirlred.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/hypoglycemia-a-symptom-of-bigger-health-problems/
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/lower_your_grains.htm
http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/reactive-hypoglycemia.html0 -
Hi,
I have PCOS too, even though I am in my early 30s, I wasn't diagnosed until about a year and a half ago when I went to see my doctor. My doctor ran some tests and that is when I was diagnosed with PCOS.
Probably complaint about having PCOS is the facial hair. Well right now I am shaving about every 2-3 days. I also have to watch what I eat because I can easily gain weight.0
