Tracking Carbs/sugars

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So, I was diagnosed with PCOS in May and have been taking Metformin. I have always counted my calories and watched my carbs/sugars, etc. I am having a really hard time keeping my carbs down. My endocrinologist suggested I stay at 90g per day...I am struggling with this. Also, my calorie intake is all over the board...sometimes I get 1200, sometimes I get 1800...what do ya'll do for calories and do you have any suggestions for keeping my carbs low? My snacks currently include: hard boiled eggs, string cheese, sugar free jello, and almonds.
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  • lindaj08
    lindaj08 Posts: 1
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    What kind of carbs are you eating? I eat low carb - don't eat much fruit, and if I do, I eat blueberries. If you do eat fruit daily, check out the glycemic level of fruit and go for the lower ones. Milk - I switched to unsweetened almond milk a few years back. I also use half and half or heavy cream in my coffee (1 carb). Some veggies have carbs - I try to stay away from carrots and other "sweet" vegetables. I try to stay away from beans - black, etc. I do eat a ton of spaghetti squash and zucchini (you can use to make your noodles, or zoodles).
    I just cut back on my dairy and have been cheese free for a week.
    Let me know if this helps :)
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Eat more fat.

    Low carb, plus low fat is a recipe for disaster in a number of ways.

    That said, here's my usual menu. It generally rings in about 80g of carbs, 100g protein, and 100g fat (1700-2000 calories):

    Breakfast:
    Mocha made with coffee, almond milk, heavy cream, cocoa powder
    4 Eggs (with yolk, none of this whites-only business) scrambled in 1Tbsp butter, topped with a little cheese
    -or-
    3 eggs scrambled + 2 slices of bacon (about 1oz)
    -or-
    A variation of Bulletproof Coffee

    Lunch:
    Leftover meat from previous dinners.
    A veggie. Usually raw, sometimes leftover cooked (if there’s any left over).
    Sometimes a fruit. Usually strawberries, sometimes kiwi or banana.

    Dinner:
    A meat -- usually beef, pork, or chicken, sometimes bison, occasionally venison or lamb. Depends on what we want and have. Generally grilled, though the chicken is usually baked and venison skillet fried in coconut oil. Usually marinated in a blend of olive oil, vinegar, and spices. We buy our beef, especially, by the animal, so cuts vary in leanness. Fat is not cut off from fatty cuts, and is eaten (at least as much as I can handle eating pieces of fat, since I didn't grow up doing so).
    Some non-starchy vegetables, grilled or steamed, coated in butter, lard, and/or olive oil. Varies based on what we have, what's in season. Often broccoli, carrots, and/or asparagus, occasionally green beans. Sometimes we’ll do spaghetti squash as spaghetti, with various spaghetti toppings.

    Snacks are rare (not usually needed when you increase your fats), but generally consist of
    Cream cheese clouds -- http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/cream_cheese_clouds.html
    Some fruit -- usually strawberries, kiwi, banana, or cantaloupe.
  • smadrigal04
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    Thanks for the responses...I feel like I have to have snacks throughout the day. I drink a protein shake to get my protein intake in...

    My meals usually are:

    Pre workout:
    1/2 apple
    almond butter

    Breakfast:
    Protein shake
    egg beaters
    turkey bacon
    coffee and creamer

    AM snack
    greek yogurt

    Lunch
    salad
    mini sweet bell peppers raw
    sugar free jello
    low fat cool whip

    PM snack
    hard boiled egg
    cheese stick

    Dinner
    some kind of meat
    some veggies, but not much.

    I just have been having problems losing weight...I would think with the medication I'm on and exercising every day, that I would see some kind of weight loss...it's just very frustrating...I've been at the same weight since I was diagnosed in May.
  • sharimedina
    sharimedina Posts: 116
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    Well, PCOS plain sucks. It is just HARD to lose weight no matter how right we get it. The only other suggestion I have is that when you do eat a carb, be sure to eat it with protein. (like the apple and almond butter). Also, what type of work out do you do. You may be gaining muscle which is more dense than fat. Metformin takes about 3 months to kick in. Some also take birth control just to regulate the hormones. Do you have regular cycles? Don't give up. You are in a good place for support.
  • ninawoodcock188
    ninawoodcock188 Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi everyone I hope you don't mind me joining in, I just found this group after being diagnosed on Monday...
    My doc suggested eating low GI foods, she said her sister in law has PCOS and has lost 4 stone (56lbs) using a low GI diet plan and HIIT training!!
    Maybe try and incorporate some HIIT into your schedule 2-3 times a week, mix it up a bit - Fitness Blender on Youtube have some great workouts both beginner and advanced or if you go to the gym do 5mins walk on the cross trainer or elliptical followed by 30seconds all out then 30 seconds walk for 15 mins. Google it for ideas! It's said to rev up your metabolism for up to 30 hours after your workout, so for us PCOS sufferers any help with our metabolism must be a good thing :wink:
    Hope this might help :flowerforyou:
    Nina x
  • smadrigal04
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    My endocrinologist told me to stop lifting weights and do light cardio until I lost 10% of my body weight. I've been doing that, and haven't seen a change at all...so maybe I should start up lifting again? I was doing it before I was diagnosed, but quit and just doing cardio. Jillian Michaels DVD 3x a week, boxing 2x a week...
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Thanks for the responses...I feel like I have to have snacks throughout the day. I drink a protein shake to get my protein intake in...

    My meals usually are:

    Pre workout:
    1/2 apple
    almond butter

    Breakfast:
    Protein shake
    egg beaters
    turkey bacon
    coffee and creamer

    AM snack
    greek yogurt

    Lunch
    salad
    mini sweet bell peppers raw
    sugar free jello
    low fat cool whip

    PM snack
    hard boiled egg
    cheese stick

    Dinner
    some kind of meat
    some veggies, but not much.

    I just have been having problems losing weight...I would think with the medication I'm on and exercising every day, that I would see some kind of weight loss...it's just very frustrating...I've been at the same weight since I was diagnosed in May.

    Ditch the protein shake and swap the egg beaters for real eggs. There's no need to fear the fat or cholesterol, and the egg yolks are packed with choline, folate, and other nutrients that are key in helping PCOS. Swap the turkey bacon for pork bacon (unless you don't eat pork for religious reasons, of course). This will likely be more calories, but that's not a bad thing. It will very likely last you until lunch time, so you won't need that morning snack. (Seriously, I eat around 8:30-9am, and don't even start getting hungry until after 12pm.)

    Ditch the Jello and fat free cool whip and trade it for strawberries and real whipped cream (buy some heavy cream, whip it until it becomes whipped cream, put on top of stuff). At the very least, trade the fat free cool whip for a whipped cream that actually uses cream and not hydrogenated oils.

    Add some kind of protein and fat to your salad if you don't already. Turkey and avocado are good options, but just about anything works (including chicken and steak). Cheese and sunflower seeds are also good fat options, as is an oil and vinegar dressing. Doing that will give the salad more "sticking power" and, again, help eliminate the need for snacks.

    Why not much veggies? Are you getting close to your carb limit by dinner? The carb content of non-starchy vegetables is mostly fiber, so if you're going a little over from that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The fiber content is why the Atkins people will use "net" carbs. It's total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols, which don't have any calorific value to our bodies (it passes through us or is used by our gut flora, and not actually absorbed). So if you take in 85g of carbs, but 35g of fiber, then your net carbs would be 50g.

    One thing that might be worth trying is cutting down/out the dairy for a while, especially the high-protein ones. A lot of our problems with weight stem from elevated insulin levels, independent of glucose level. Protein in general in insulinogenic (meaning it prompts the body to put out insulin), which isn't generally a bad thing, because it's required to allow the protein to be used for muscle growth and repair. The proteins in milk, particularly whey, however, are unique in the sheer amount it prompts -- nearly twice that of white bread -- despite being a low-GI food. So, that Greek yogurt that everyone touts as so healthy? Not so much for people like us, especially when you get the "fat-free" or "low-fat" varieties.

    The same goes for the "pair every carb with a protein" rule that is often tossed about. This isn't a terrible rule if all you're concerned with is glucose (because protein does prompt the body to slow absorption, thus reducing the steepness of the blood sugar spike), but when you start looking at it from the point of view of insulin, the combined insulinogenic properties of both protein and carbs starts looking more like an insulin bomb. Instead, I say pair every carb and protein with a fat. Butter on veggies, cream with fruit, coconut oil with steak, etc.

    Finally, I agree with the suggestions for HIIT. High intensity training of just about any sort is arguably the most effective for anyone, and moreso for us. It can be as simple as interval sprints on anything. It can also be a powerlifting routine (have I introduced this thread to Staci, yet? http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/ ), which is a sort of less cardio-focused way of doing high intensity intervals. I highly recommend picking up at least one form of high intensity training like that, as, from my experience, it's had the most profound effects on my hormones overall. Additionally, the nature of high intensity training builds muscle and, if done right, uses all of the types of muscle (fast and slow twitch), allowing you to retain and build more muscle than most other exercises, which will keep your metabolism up.
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    My endocrinologist told me to stop lifting weights and do light cardio until I lost 10% of my body weight. I've been doing that, and haven't seen a change at all...so maybe I should start up lifting again? I was doing it before I was diagnosed, but quit and just doing cardio. Jillian Michaels DVD 3x a week, boxing 2x a week...

    Oh gods, get a new endo if you can. Lifting is hands-down the best way for anyone to lose fat, and fat loss is what you want, not indiscriminant weight loss. Even "healthy" people who don't have PCOS or any kind of insulin resistance have limited results on the weight loss front with light cardo (the ones who get the most are the ones that need to lose a couple hundred pounds and/or haven't done any amount of physical exertion in forever). If you just do "light cardio" for the first 10% of your bodyweight, you'll likely be at it for a very long time.
  • smadrigal04
    Options

    Ditch the protein shake and swap the egg beaters for real eggs. There's no need to fear the fat or cholesterol, and the egg yolks are packed with choline, folate, and other nutrients that are key in helping PCOS. Swap the turkey bacon for pork bacon (unless you don't eat pork for religious reasons, of course). This will likely be more calories, but that's not a bad thing. It will very likely last you until lunch time, so you won't need that morning snack. (Seriously, I eat around 8:30-9am, and don't even start getting hungry until after 12pm.)

    Ditch the Jello and fat free cool whip and trade it for strawberries and real whipped cream (buy some heavy cream, whip it until it becomes whipped cream, put on top of stuff). At the very least, trade the fat free cool whip for a whipped cream that actually uses cream and not hydrogenated oils.

    Add some kind of protein and fat to your salad if you don't already. Turkey and avocado are good options, but just about anything works (including chicken and steak). Cheese and sunflower seeds are also good fat options, as is an oil and vinegar dressing. Doing that will give the salad more "sticking power" and, again, help eliminate the need for snacks.

    Why not much veggies? Are you getting close to your carb limit by dinner? The carb content of non-starchy vegetables is mostly fiber, so if you're going a little over from that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The fiber content is why the Atkins people will use "net" carbs. It's total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols, which don't have any calorific value to our bodies (it passes through us or is used by our gut flora, and not actually absorbed). So if you take in 85g of carbs, but 35g of fiber, then your net carbs would be 50g.

    One thing that might be worth trying is cutting down/out the dairy for a while, especially the high-protein ones. A lot of our problems with weight stem from elevated insulin levels, independent of glucose level. Protein in general in insulinogenic (meaning it prompts the body to put out insulin), which isn't generally a bad thing, because it's required to allow the protein to be used for muscle growth and repair. The proteins in milk, particularly whey, however, are unique in the sheer amount it prompts -- nearly twice that of white bread -- despite being a low-GI food. So, that Greek yogurt that everyone touts as so healthy? Not so much for people like us, especially when you get the "fat-free" or "low-fat" varieties.

    The same goes for the "pair every carb with a protein" rule that is often tossed about. This isn't a terrible rule if all you're concerned with is glucose (because protein does prompt the body to slow absorption, thus reducing the steepness of the blood sugar spike), but when you start looking at it from the point of view of insulin, the combined insulinogenic properties of both protein and carbs starts looking more like an insulin bomb. Instead, I say pair every carb and protein with a fat. Butter on veggies, cream with fruit, coconut oil with steak, etc.

    Finally, I agree with the suggestions for HIIT. High intensity training of just about any sort is arguably the most effective for anyone, and moreso for us. It can be as simple as interval sprints on anything. It can also be a powerlifting routine (have I introduced this thread to Staci, yet? http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/ ), which is a sort of less cardio-focused way of doing high intensity intervals. I highly recommend picking up at least one form of high intensity training like that, as, from my experience, it's had the most profound effects on my hormones overall. Additionally, the nature of high intensity training builds muscle and, if done right, uses all of the types of muscle (fast and slow twitch), allowing you to retain and build more muscle than most other exercises, which will keep your metabolism up.

    Thank you so much for that information! When I go grocery shopping this weekend, I will get those items you suggested. As far as not getting many veggies, it's because I'm not a fan of veggies! I like broccoli, corn, and peas and that is about it. Hence the salad every day for lunch and the mini bell peppers. I have already started pinning HIIT workouts on Pinterest. I will work on creating a daily workout starting next week for that.
  • smadrigal04
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    I thought it was kind of weird that she said that. Unfortunately, I cannot change my doctor (military insurance kinda sucks with that)...I don't have to see her until after 6 months, so I'm not too worried...I will change up with what ya'll have suggested and keep ya updated!
  • ninawoodcock188
    ninawoodcock188 Posts: 4 Member
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    Totally agree on ditching the cool whip and jello, full of chemicals and trans-fats! Don't be scared of adding fat to your diet, your body needs fat to produce hormones. Try to get lots of omega 3's in, most people consume too much omega 6 and not enough 3, ratio should be about 1.1, oily fish and flax are great sources. Don't heat olive oil as it oxidizes easily, use coconut oil for cooking and olive for dressings. Also soy is a no-no - full of phytoestrogens which can be endocrine disruptors, so I've read - eek! so check your labels for foods containing soya!

    Weight lifting builds muscle, muscle burns fat even at rest - a good weights routine can be a good cardio workout in itself just make sure you're really pushing and get your heart rate up! Doing too much light cardio can actually 'eat away' at your muscles if you go overboard whereas HIIT won't. Just look at the physique of a sprinter vs a marathon runner and you'll see!

    Dragonwolf you are an information powerhouse! :tongue: I had no idea dairy was bad - my doc told me to eat yogurt and milk for calcium :grumble: , will be steering away from that for now!! x
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Totally agree on ditching the cool whip and jello, full of chemicals and trans-fats! Don't be scared of adding fat to your diet, your body needs fat to produce hormones. Try to get lots of omega 3's in, most people consume too much omega 6 and not enough 3, ratio should be about 1.1, oily fish and flax are great sources. Don't heat olive oil as it oxidizes easily, use coconut oil for cooking and olive for dressings. Also soy is a no-no - full of phytoestrogens which can be endocrine disruptors, so I've read - eek! so check your labels for foods containing soya!

    Weight lifting builds muscle, muscle burns fat even at rest - a good weights routine can be a good cardio workout in itself just make sure you're really pushing and get your heart rate up! Doing too much light cardio can actually 'eat away' at your muscles if you go overboard whereas HIIT won't. Just look at the physique of a sprinter vs a marathon runner and you'll see!

    Dragonwolf you are an information powerhouse! :tongue: I had no idea dairy was bad - my doc told me to eat yogurt and milk for calcium :grumble: , will be steering away from that for now!! x

    Milk's overrated for calcium, really. To be fair, it's good, but you can get at least as much from greens, bony fish, home made beef/chicken stock, and various other sources. Milk is far from the only source.
  • ninawoodcock188
    ninawoodcock188 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you, I think I'm going to cut the dairy right back - don't think I can go cold turkey on cheese though! Doctors are just so black and white I'm so glad I found this forum :happy:
    Thank you!
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Thank you, I think I'm going to cut the dairy right back - don't think I can go cold turkey on cheese though! Doctors are just so black and white I'm so glad I found this forum :happy:
    Thank you!

    Hah! I know the feeling. I've managed to cut way back on dairy in general (I could go through a gallon of milk a week, just by myself), but cheese is still something I just can't give up entirely! :laugh:
  • Nisha_DK
    Nisha_DK Posts: 9 Member
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    Dragonwolf I love reading your posts :-)

    Speaking of dairy, what about unsweetened almond milk?
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Dragonwolf I love reading your posts :-)

    Speaking of dairy, what about unsweetened almond milk?

    It's not dairy, so you're good. Do keep in mind, though, that the fats in almonds and almond products tend toward Omega-6, which you don't want too much of (keep it balanced with Omega-3). That, and the other additive crap in store-bought almond milks are really the only thing you need to worry about, and the additive crap is easily avoided by making your own.
  • jeanipurdy
    jeanipurdy Posts: 12 Member
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    My endocrinologist told me to stop lifting weights and do light cardio until I lost 10% of my body weight. I've been doing that, and haven't seen a change at all...so maybe I should start up lifting again? I was doing it before I was diagnosed, but quit and just doing cardio. Jillian Michaels DVD 3x a week, boxing 2x a week...

    I was diagnosed with PCOS quite a while ago (1997) the doctor where I live told me to Lose Weight! I have had to work through it with trial and error (More Error!) . STRESS does cause a lot of the problem. whether it is stress from working out or emotional. I believe what your Endocrinologist told you is correct. Because when I lift weights and do HIIT workouts it causes my blood sugar to be increased I end up having a higher Morning sugar. But when I walk even if I walk 3 times a day for 30 minutes I have a much lower blood sugar. Sometimes it is hard to be patient. It seems that after you know what is wrong you think, no big deal I can fix it now, but this is not like having a cold or even an infection. It seems that there are many systems in play for this one. I took Metformin for a little while it made me want to eat because I was nauseated all the time. I could never quite get over that. I did find a good resource for natural sources and advice. Katie Humphrey has some YouTube videos and is also on FaceBook. She3 offers a lot of advice and it cost nothing but your time. She also has a website.

    I learned that I talked to myself very negatively. I made sure to get enough Fiber (Veggies), took my vitamins, learned to meditate & relax myself, did an exercise I enjoyed and loved myself. Hope this helps!
  • smadrigal04
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    I actually think, since I started taking the Metformin, that the dairy has been giving me "issues." I can feel my belly gurgling when I eat yogurt or cheese. Never had that problem until just recently, or maybe I am just now noticing it...I don't know. I really appreciate everyone's comments and advice. Do ya'll have any suggestions for snack ideas? Or should I just try and do the 3 meals per day? What about hard boiled eggs? Guess I'll stop buying the cheese sticks that I usually eat with my egg, though.
  • jessib1980
    jessib1980 Posts: 9 Member
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    This is just the topic I needed to see today. So much information provided by you all so thanks! I recently started Metformin and I have been struggling the past few weeks to get my diet back under control but reading all this makes me realize how important it is to keep the diet and exercise in check. I have been stuck at the same weight for almost 7 months and I am about 10 lbs from my "goal" weight to put me in the healthy BMI range. It has been incredibly frustrating, I tracked one year on here and I had only lost 11.5 lbs the entire year. For a few months at the beginning of the year I was following this eating plan called "The Natural Hormone Replacement" by Rob Fagan I think it was. It focuses on eating low carbs, high protein, high fat, and cutting out processed food. Which sounds similar to what some of the suggestions are on here. I think I am going to get that book out and give it a go again.

    When I followed that plan I ate a bunch of eggs, bacon, sausage, steak, chicken, cheese, avocados, salads with a variety of green leafy lettuce/kale, olive oil, berries, nuts, and real butter, real sour cream, whole milk/cream, etc...nothing processed.

    That diet did carb cycling or carb load days (every 3rd night you would load up and eat a lot of healthy carbs) so I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not for PCOS? But the basic part of the diet I think is something that makes sense.
  • mjrose514
    mjrose514 Posts: 60 Member
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    How do you know about the fats and lower protein? First I've heard of it.... There's a nutritionist telling me to cut back on my fats... My goal was 30% fats 35% of the other two...