The scale lies, seriously.

Start taking body measurements. That plus the scale will give you a more complete picture of what's going on. If you haven't already been doing that, at least consider how your clothes are fitting.

Other than that, just keep on keeping on. Hormones and water can cause your weight loss rate to fluctuate, but it's the trends that matter, not the day-to-day weights.

LO1421 wrote: »

Yea I've been keeping body measurements. They have shown some changes in the right directions. I just really want to get control of my PCOS. There is a voice in my head that keeps repeating the line from studies "if you lose 20% of your weight you could regain your periods and possibly fertility." I feel this is why I want to see that scale move down so much!

It's not the weight. Many women with PCOS have weight issues because of the effects of PCOS, not the other way around (otherwise, there'd be no slender women with it; see also: Jillian Michaels).

Also, it's not about the weight, but the fat. Fat puts out estrogen, which can throw off your hormone balance. Fat does not necessarily equal weight. You can have two different people who are of the same weight, and one person have 50% body fat, and the other 20% (even better? They can both be considered "overweight" by conventional wisdom standards, even though 20% body fat in women is healthy and "normal"). Go ahead and lop off a leg and see how far that gets you in the symptom department. You dropped 20% of your weight doing that, after all. Should fix matters, right? (See the problem with putting so much stock in weight?)

The idea that losing "20% of your weight will resolve your PCOS" is a gross oversimplification of the "more fat = more estrogen" thing. I also call *kitten* on it. I have lost 20% of my body weight, and my fertility was not affected by it. Rather, I lost weight because of the measures I took to deal with the underlying issues that were causing both the weight and the infertility (at the time I got pregnant, it was my blood sugar and insulin, which I was able to address with Metformin). In fact, I didn't hit the 20% mark until sometime after I became pregnant.

I've also regained my period even without losing weight, through the use of Inositol (vitamin B8) supplementation. I've also been able to do it through routine heavy lifting (though I haven't been able to keep doing it regularly for long enough to see if it worked over the long term). This is in part due to the fact that my weight issues and my cycle issues appear to have two different root causes at this point, and I've been able to find the cycle one, but haven't found the cause of the weight one, yet.

Ignore the scale for now, or invest in one of those scales that sync to MFP automatically and cover the screen so you don't see the numbers, but it still tracks so you have the data point. Go by measurements. Those are what really indicate progress.

I agree with Dragonwolf, ignore the scale and continue doing what you are doing. Heavy lifting is a must for women with PCOS.

I like tracking my weight daily, but it was a big thing for me at first to get over the rising and falling numbers. Most of the time they stay very similar which makes me feel like no progress has been made. I find it makes me feel better and see the larger picture to look at the data on a 30 day scale compared to the 7 days chart that MFP has to offer.

Similar to what Dragonwolf has been saying - there are a ton of factors that influence the number of the scale in general, and more so with women who have PCOS. Focusing on getting healthier and not just on what the number says will benefit you more overall in the long run.

fighterdiva wrote: »

I agree with Dragonwolf, ignore the scale and continue doing what you are doing. Heavy lifting is a must for women with PCOS.

What do you mean by heavy lifting?

Very interesting. I'll have to look into that. I'm a short but large-built woman (thanks to my German ancestry) so not adding bulk is a big deal to me.