• a lower-carb, higher-fat diet (I aim for no more than 70 total grams of carbs a day, but around 50g of "net carbs" once fiber is subtracted. I occasionally flex my total goal up to 100 for days of special events or travel).
• Trying to omit all grains, potatoes & most dairy with the exception of very rare treats (I eat cheese 1-3 times a week. No milk, ever (but I do use heavy cream in stuff if needed). I eat potato products 1x a month...I choose my potato-treats wisely, and they are small servings )
• My doctor wants me to flex between 1500-1800 calories a day, but NOT to go below 1500. I think this is where my missteps were with past diets, my calorie goal would dip into the 1200-1300 range, I'd stick to it, and it would just become one giant stall that never ended, I'd get frustrated & quit. I eat around 1530cal most days, but 2 days a week I flex up to 1800. There's something that triggers in my body when I keep things too-consistent in calorie intake. I also think I'm designed to become super-efficient/not lose when the calorie limit dips too low, like I'm biologically designed to be the sole-survivor of a global famine.
• I take metformin (1000mg extended-release twice a day), a multi-vitamin, a complex b-vitamin, a b12 supplement, D3 vitamin, & inositol.
• Strength training is a near-requirement with PCOS--my doctor, who has PCOS herself, couldn't over-stress this more if she tried. Even when I don't get to the gym (which has been a lot lately), I am sure to do push-ups, yoga, planks, etc at home, to help with muscle tone. Lifting weights works the best for me to bust stalls though. She said if I only have time to do cardio vs. lift weights, lift weights.
• My final note is regarding water. I have a tendency not to lose if I don't drink a TON of water...which seems counter-intuitive. I drink nearly a gallon of water a day, spaced evenly throughout the day. It's annoying to always carry a water bottle, but when I let my water intake lapse, my weightloss tends to lapse.

my general practicioner has told me before that my ultimate goal for optimal weight loss should be to get down to ~1400 calories a day.

So it seems the last thing that everyone's mentioning is watching the macronutrients, if that's the proper word? The details of fat per meal, carbs, etcetera... I try to watch that but so far my main goal has just been to watch calories and to stray from high carb items, while trying to add what protein I can to help keep me fuller and make up for the workouts. I suppose that's my next step in this, however: to focus more intently on that. Thank you again, everyone!

sunlight_through_trees wrote: »

Hi Sakura, I also have PCOS and hypothyroid (mine is Hashimotos - is yours?), am on metformin and synthroid aswell, and also experienced a major plateau after a 45 lb weight loss. The plateau lasted about 4 months and was really frustraing. There are some really good tips and advice here (that I will be using myself, thanks ladies!) But I just want to add, watch your thyroid....I couldn't understand why I had plateaued but it turned out my thyroid as was about to flare-up/collapse again! And then I suddenly gained 15 pounds!!! I thought that taking the synthroid, watching calories and exercising was enough....but actually things like stress, getting proper sleep, eating enough, nutrient deficiencies like selenium, zinc, magnesium and iron really effect thyroid health. I have learned through trial and error that when my thyroid is a little bit off, I just hold onto weight, and I think the plateau was the first sign of that. This may not be the case for you but just wanted to share that in case!! Get some labs done and check your numbers for any changes. I am about to start the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol to try and tackle my Hashimotos....hopefully it works!! And I hope that you solve your plateau puzzle!