Do I NEED to do keto to lose weight if I have PCOS?

I'm currently 5' 1" and 120 lbs so I'm certainly not overweight or obese but I would like to lose 10 pounds. However, I simply enjoy carbohydrates too much to give them up. If I stick to a 1200 calorie diet, will I still lose weight? I know it will be at a slower rate but I just want to know if it's possible to eat carbs even though I have PCOS.

Replies

  • VTRutz
    VTRutz Posts: 52 Member
    if you arent insulin resistant then no, you dont have to do low carb. A lot of women with PCOS have insulin resistance, and THAT is what makes LC necessary.
  • laoliviabeachbum
    laoliviabeachbum Posts: 21 Member
    Not low carb, eat foods low on the Glycemic Index, not just to lose weight, for life.
  • Can you at least cut out "white" foods (minus cauliflower, eat that one)?

    Really, nobody needs to eat white bread or pasta. It will only help you to eliminate these foods and have the whole grain replacements.

    Btw, i have PCOS too :P Atkins helped me loose 20 lbs in 2 weeks!! And i kept it off too :P
  • mrsmoulton
    mrsmoulton Posts: 12 Member
    I have PCOS and have lost quite a bit of weight without doing low carb. I do have insulin resistance but I find elimination diets very hard to stick to. I had my carbs in the morning and tried to stick to lean protein and lots of veggies for my other meals.
  • Hachiko89
    Hachiko89 Posts: 43 Member
    I'm currently 5' 1" and 120 lbs so I'm certainly not overweight or obese but I would like to lose 10 pounds. However, I simply enjoy carbohydrates too much to give them up. If I stick to a 1200 calorie diet, will I still lose weight? I know it will be at a slower rate but I just want to know if it's possible to eat carbs even though I have PCOS.

    I'm 5'1 too and I was 118lbs. I'm now down to 110lbs. I did 1200 calories a day plus extra for exercise. I lost it relatively slowly (about 1-1.5lbs per week) but I feel it sustainable because of that. I dont think you need to do that fancy keto stuff, just make sure you eat plenty of fruit and veg as I think fibre has helped me with my weight loss.

    Good luck!
  • rebalee8
    rebalee8 Posts: 161 Member
    I have PCOS and insulin resistance (and hypothyroidism fwiw), and I do not do low carb (quite the opposite). I haven't eliminated anything (except meat but that's unrelated), not even the "white stuff" (just had a croissant this morning). What I do is eat it sparingly. I eat lots of veggies and whole grains. For example, lunch is quinoa, chickpeas and vegetables, and dinner will be black bean tostadas with mango salsa on corn tortillas. And some cherries this afternoon as a snack.

    My thing was that I didn't want to create a "diet". I wanted to have a way of eating that I could sustain for the rest of my life. And I knew that I couldn't possible sustain a low carb diet. So I worked in those things that make me happy (like croissants) with the things that do my body a lot of good at a calorie level that makes me lose weight. When I'm done losing, I just get to eat a little more of everything - but the same things, so I don't need to learn to manage different stuff.

    So, there you go. My experience hasn't been that you NEED to do keto, but some people have found it helpful. I think it really depends on what you can sustain. If you're going to feel deprived and just end up eating more pasta and white bread (or croissants) in the end, then it's not really going to work. But if you think you can sustain it for the time you need to lose weight and then transition to a less drastic way of eating (you can't maintain a true ketogenic diet for life) and maintain, then try it.