What was your insulin level?

One problem I ran into was that my insulin level was technically "normal," but it was still interfering with my weight loss. My doctor put me on Metformin, and even with being so-called "fine" with my insulin, it took 2000mg to respond and as soon as it did, I started being able to lose weight. My insulin dropped 6 points between my initial bloodwork and my last one.

Your story sounds very much like mine, so I'd recommend the following:

1. Find an actual doctor, one that understands PCOS and doesn't just blindly follow what the lab lists as "normal" for bloodwork results.

2. Try a low carb/low-GL diet and make sure to limit legumes (phytoestrogens) and consider limiting grains (many women with PCOS are also gluten intolerant; it's worth a try and will help limit your carb intake). Whether you do a low-carb diet or not, make sure you're getting at least .45g/lb of total bodyweight of fats. Fat and cholesterol are needed for proper hormone functioning and Vitamin D production and absorption. Also, eat more butter (ideally, grass fed). Seriously. It's got a bunch of Vitamin K, which is good for insulin resistance. Focus on whole food sources, as well. They're more nutritionally dense and just all around better for you.

3. Supplement zinc, magnesium, and Vitamin D. These help with insulin sensitivity and metabolism.

4. Increase the weights you're working out with, if you can, and don't do crunches all day. Don't be afraid to lift heavy. It's good for you and your bones, and you're not going to accidentally turn into the Hulk. Look into New Rules of Lifting if you have access to weights or You Are Your Own Gym if you don't. You can't spot-reduce fat and your abs are just like any other muscle - the more you work them, the bigger it's going to get. Also, crunches really only hit the outer layer of muscles and not the whole core. They have their place in a well-rounded program, but they kind of suck as a core exercise on their own.

5. Remember that progress doesn't always show on the scale. You mentioned that you "toned up quite a bit," even though you didn't lose weight. When you first start a program, especially, you'll experience "newbie gains" - that is, muscle gains even though you're in a caloric deficit. You'll also retain some extra water, which is used to handle the exercise. Your bones will also start increasing in density from the new challenge. These things will often mask any scale changes for the first month or so, so even though you didn't lose any scale weight, you very likely lost inches. This is still progress, so don't discount it!

6. Remember that weight loss for us will often be a little slow, especially if we can't get or haven't yet gotten the support we need from our doctors. Even with medical support, though, it can still be slow going. I've been stalled for the past month or so, too, but because I've got the support I need, I know that right now, it is some of my behaviors/habits that I need to change and will be changing them. I've also only lost about 18lbs since August or so, but I'm okay with that, because I'm losing weight. Before I got that support? I drove myself nuts thinking that it was my fault (and being told as much by ignorant doctors) and going neurotic over my eating, trying various things, and getting nowhere (neither weight nor measurements moved for over a year). So always remember, some movement is better than none. Besides, the giant, fast losses that people seem to have gotten used to seeing? ("Lose 20lbs in a month!") They're not realistic unless you're like 400lbs and usually not all that safe, anyway.

Dragonwolf, thank you so much for posting this! I've been struggling for over a year with weight loss, my doctor took me off metformin before I started trying to lose weight. I might go get a second opinion! Also good luck to you emuff7715.