I keep my macros around 10% carbs (veggies only, no starches/grains or fruit), 30% protein and 60% fat. I was having great success at 5% carbs, 25% protein and 70% fat but after I joined a boot camp I needed to up my carb and protein intake to help with workout recovery.

Everyone is different play with your macros, try a setting for a week and see what happens.

Weight-loss can be a slow process, especially for women with PCOS.

^^^^^This recommendation goes for all of you! I cannot believe any of you can be happy/healthy eating that little amount of carbs and that high amount of fat! Good fats are great for you, but in such large amounts you are likely damaging a lot organs, and carbs are the only nutrient that is available for use by your brain! Less than 30% of your day from carbs no only reduces energy but leaves your brain with no nutrition. You probably get a foggy feeling in the afternoon/evening, or cant remember certain things, can't perform memory, comprehension, "tasks" as well. That is scary. Up your carbs for the love of god, but make it the right carbs. Carbs are fine for women with PCOS as long as it is proper ones for the diagnosis!

Your brain cannot use fats. I am speaking to you as a nutition professional. Eating as low as 10% of your daily nutrition from carbs is damaging your body whether you believe it or not. Ask any dietitian. Not one would ever recommend that unless you were morbidly obese and preparing for surgery! That is the only time I have ever recommended that to a patient!

I can point to you thousands of research studies that prove exactly what I am saying to you! Your brain cannot use any nutrient except carbohydrates. I am not trying to be hurtful I am being honest and telling you that you are sacraficing long term health for short term weight loss. You can choose not to believe me, or not to see a nutritionist and continue on that path, but know that you are damaging organs long term. Even good fats have parameters. You should not be eating 50-70% of your diet from fats no matter how healthy they are. Your brain function will suffer and your organs will not be able to keep for the long haul.

You can do low/moderate/high carb options with Low GI....that is not the point. The point is that eating carbs as low as 10-20% of your daily values is asking for trouble. I am sorry you are offended, but I am a professional in the field and cannot sit here and watch people advise someone to change their macros to 10% daily carb intake. It is starving your brain.

Your brain cannot use fats. I am speaking to you as a nutition professional. Eating as low as 10% of your daily nutrition from carbs is damaging your body whether you believe it or not. Ask any dietitian. Not one would ever recommend that unless you were morbidly obese and preparing for surgery! That is the only time I have ever recommended that to a patient!

I can point to you thousands of research studies that prove exactly what I am saying to you! Your brain cannot use any nutrient except carbohydrates. I am not trying to be hurtful I am being honest and telling you that you are sacraficing long term health for short term weight loss. You can choose not to believe me, or not to see a nutritionist and continue on that path, but know that you are damaging organs long term. Even good fats have parameters. You should not be eating 50-70% of your diet from fats no matter how healthy they are. Your brain function will suffer and your organs will not be able to keep for the long haul.

You can do low/moderate/high carb options with Low GI....that is not the point. The point is that eating carbs as low as 10-20% of your daily values is asking for trouble. I am sorry you are offended, but I am a professional in the field and cannot sit here and watch people advise someone to change their macros to 10% daily carb intake. It is starving your brain.

I'd imagine it'd be hard for you to give different advise and push Shakeology as hard as you do. There are lots of studies showing very different results. But to each their own. I know I'll keep getting my advice from real Dietitians on the LCHF boards and not someone with an agenda. Thank you.

I also know hundreds of dietians on Shakeology. It is the healthiest meal replacement out there...that is undisputed by every single dietitian I have spoken with, and on every board I post on. I have no agenda except helping those that want my help. I do it every single day....it's my calling in life and I love it.

Just because I refuse to stand by and watch you all give her horrible advice does not mean I have an agenda, it means I have a brain and and education and I use it.

Go ahead and post her question on the dietician's board. Every one of them will agree with me. Let me know what you find out....

And that is all the negativity I have time for today...or in my life. Period. I don't do negative crap. Remain positive and positive things will come to you.

And to the original poster. Please see a nutritionist before you do something that like drastically change your macros. Some people don't want to go because they are afraid of judgement. There is no judgement, we don't even weigh you unless you request it. PCOS is a huge challenge...one I face every single day, and yes it is different for everyone, but certain things cause a lot more harm than good.

Cat

My Macro ratios at present are 50% Fat, 30% Protein and 20% Carbs. I'm also gluten free. I don't have the funds to consult a nutritionist or dietitian so I base my nutrition decisions on the scientific papers and blogs/articles I find written by licensed doctors and dietitians. That and my own instinct and observations about my body and how it feels when I eat certain ways. When I eat too many carbs (even supposedly good low GI carbs) I feel bloated and heavy. If I eat 20% carbs, I feel light and energetic. Anything lower than 18% carbs, I'm sluggish and feel horrid. Nutrition is a very personal thing. What works for one person, may not work for everyone. Blanket statements are unwise because of that. Another valid point, some dietitians are stuck on advice from very old research and others are looking at mainly new research so it's honestly best to look for many, many varied sources and not take any one source as the 100% gospel truth.

Also, the brain can indeed gain fuel from protein/fat. The body has a process it uses to convert protein/fat into glucose (gluconeogenesis), which can then be readily used by the brain. Glucose ,of course, is the same as what is produced by carbs that are eaten. It is the nutrient necessary to feed the brain. So there is merely an additional step the body has to use. Science, gotta love it.

I did just post a blog on my personal page with my personal PCOS story if anyone is interested in reading it. You may have to friend me first, I'm not sure. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MysticTigress

For most women with PCOS our blood/glucose/insulin ratios are off, and very difficult to balance, therefor effecting our ability to convert that protein/fat to glucose. I could get into the long scientifc explanation for this, but I get the feeling it would be lost here. So what you are actually doing is to ask your body to do something that it is under-capable of doing. Putting further stress on a system that you are trying to heal. Its fine to do whatever you want to your own body, but don't give faulty "medical" and dietary advice to someone unless you know what you are talking about. If you would like more information about how certain things effect, specifically PCOS or other endocrine compromising disorders, I would highly recommend seeing an RD that specializes in endocrine disorders.

I have no agenda with anyone here. I would love to know where you are all getting that?

I am simply imparting real facts and not mass hysteria regarding carbs. You are assuming all carbs are bad and spike blood sugar when that is simply not the case. refined/simple carbs will do that, but complex carbs will not. A peice of white bread does not equal a peice of fruit. They are both carbs...might even have the same number of carbs based on which fruit and which bread you eat. One will spike your blood sugar and cause your body to store the nutrients as fat once the insulin spike is unsuccessful at turning it into energy...the other will give you a nice even blood sugar curve causing no spike and no fat storage. You guess which one is better?

So even though they have the same carbs and produce dramatically different results you are inclined to remove all 90% of the carbs from you diet and along with it the nutrients that come with them? the fiber? the water? All positive benefits for your body.

PS: i don't really care how many people are doing it, if they are not seeing a di3tician that specializes in PCOS and endocrine disorders they are the blind leading the blind. It is a relatively new diagnosis the medical field and there aren't many who specialize in it, and that is the truth. There is not a dietician on earth who would have you as low as 10% carbs. That is also the truth. At that point your body is going to be starving for nutrients and please don't tell me you take a multi-vitamin because that is not readily absorbed by your body.

Again, I don't care what you do with your own body or who gives you this crazy advice that is going to cause serious issues without your own body systems, but don't make others believe that what you are doing is a cure all for their symptoms!

I will reply as many times as I wish thank you.

I have never tried to sell anything to anyone here, nor is anything that I use a HIGH CARB product. I am a licensed nutrition professional and I am here telling you that there isn't a single one of us that in good conscience would prescribe a diet as low as 10% carbs. 20 isn't as bad, but 10% is starving your brain and body of nutrients when you do it for a long period of time. I am not going to beat a dead horse here by explaining again, nor have I never once told anyone that low fat is good. A proper balance of the right kinds of fats and the right kinds of carbs is what is best for most people, especially with PCOS.

I have PCOS, and I currently see 39 patient with varying degrees of PCOS and other endocrine disorders. I have seen over 230 since I began my job. You and your boyfriend can eat 5-10% carbs if you want. Enjoy that forced keto that is going to do long term damage to your body. Saying I know nothing about high/low carb diets is ridiculous. I have a master's degree in nutrition and am working on one in education to teach nutrition. You are quite simply a stubborn person who seeks to influence people by bashing others, and others with medically sound advice and research to back up that advice.

I never recommended a high carb diet like you suggest, I never suggested a low carb diet/ or low fat diet as you are attemping to suggest, but all one needs to do is take a quick peek at your diary to figure out that you are not losing weight because of the right diet for PCOS, it's because you are starving your body. Go ahead and compare your's and mine if you like. I eat 5-6 times a day and never feel deprived, eating tons of veggies, protein, a few fruits, a bit of dairy, and a tiny bit of whole grains. You eat usually 2 times a day, with the majority of your calories and nutrients coming in the evening meal. Ask your "nutritionist" how good that is for you? The number of calories and nutrients that I have seen is alarmingly low and the meal timing is atrocious. Before you go giving advice to people you should really see someone about the disordered eating that you are pedaling to people.

Have a nice day!

To anyone that reads this thread in the future: Please see someone qualified to give you nutritional advice based on your PCOS diagnosis and your medical history. Do not take your advice from idiots on the internet with no real education on the topic.

There isn't really any reason for me to respond to this, but I will since you are implying that I am not real professional I will. I am a registered Dietician in my state. I responding to this post as someone interested in giving real, scientific, nutritionally sound advice. Not someone "pushing fad meal replacements" as you say. It is true that I am a beach body coach in addition to my day job but as a professional who read and understand ingredients I have done an immense amount of research on the product, consulted herbalists, homeopathic doctors, conventional medical doctors, and the endocrinologist that I am affiliated with through my job. It is not a "fad" protein shake type thing, but a dose of insanely dense nutrition that has helped me to reverse the symptoms of my PCOS.

I really don't care though, what you have to say about me. What I care about it you all telling this poor girl who is struggling with her macros that it is okay to drop down to 10% carbs. Its not unless you fall into a very small percentage of patients. There are ways to eat for PCOS that do no include depriving your body and brain of vital nutrients. I have done it, my patients have done it, tons of people have done it in a healthy way. I would give you sources until the cows come home, but my work computer will not allow this cite. However, I can explain in more depth if you like.

Essentially you are telling a woman whose body has trouble with glucose and insulin, that her body will just turn the excess fat into glucose for use by the brain. But if you look into the body of a woman with PCOS that process is severely impaired. If it takes place at all it takes up to 12 hours for it to occur, much slower than in a healthy person with a normally functioning endocrine system, and putting unnecessary stress on your body systems. Anyway....I am sure this is all lost on you since you seem not to care about what you do to your body, which is your own perogative, and thats, fine. But don't advise others if you don't know what you are talking about, and certainly don't make yourself look like an idiot by trying to insinuate that I am not a professional with a master's degree, with almost 10 years of experience working with patients with endocrine disorders.

Cat