Weight loss with PCOS

I have PCOS as well and have just started my own weight loss journey. I'm doing low carb (like super low 20-35 carbs a day) and high protein, I'm down almost 6 pounds in one month. I basically force my body into ketosis. Where keystones in my blood are forced to burn fat stores for energy because I'm not giving by body the carbs it's used to making energy from. It's not for everyone and those predisposed to diabetes should definitely not try it. But it's working for me. I also started Couch to 5K. Because if there ever where a couch potato...it's me. You should add me as a friend. I'd like to keep up!

I had PCOS and just ate whatever I wanted within my calorie count, my weight loss was roughly on track for what I was estimating (I had a lot of guestimated meals and guestimated cardio calorie burns; now that I'm no longer doing excessive cardio, my weight loss is even easier). I've lost 72 pounds in about a year's time, I went from obese to healthy weight, my cysts are gone and no other symptoms remain.

i'm losing weight with PCOS and hypothyroidism - i currently take metformin 1500 mg/day and synthroid 100 mcg/day. i have not cut out any specific food or food groups (should add that i'm not insulin resistant). i workout 5-6/days a week, lifting heavy and doing moderate amounts of cardio. it is possible, but definitely takes time.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in my 40s and was well over 330 pounds. At age 60 I was diagnosed with diabetes 2 and lost 100 pounds with diet and exercise. Metformin helped because it made me lose my appetite and I ate low carb and exercised a lot. I am now 66 years old and last August I again began my weight loss journey again and have lost 65 more pounds. During that time I have gone from morbidly obese to just a bit into the overweight BMI category. I have 35-40 pounds more to go to get to the weight I want to be.

I have PCOS, am hypothryoid, have insulin resistance, am short (5'4") and old and all of these work against me. LOL I am also determined. And that's what you have to be when you have these kinds of things to deal with. Do not let people whether they are family, friends, or health professionals discourage you. My motto is "small progress is still progress". Good luck on your journey. Believe in yourself!

ah well, everyone does react differently. I don't love being on Met but it helps weight loss work...but ONLY if I'm also logging food while balancing my carbs with protein, doing some cardio, and some weight training! But If I do all those, I don't find I need to exercise like crazy--30-45 minutes 5 days a week will do it for me.

wesheets wrote: »

I stopped taking Metformin because of the horrendous gastrointestinal issues. I was only on 1000 mg/day. I'm now wondering if that's my only hope for weight loss....

I'm on Metformin as well for pcos. The girls issues do improve with time. The one thing that I noticed was that if I ate something really sweet (cake,pie,candy,etc...) the gi issues would kick in full throttle. Eating low carb I haven't experienced any gi problems while on Metformin. Hope this helps.

@mtnlife72 thanks for that option. I'll ask when I return to the doctor.

@mom23nuts love the handle. I had 2 before DX then treatment with NO pregnancy followed by a pregnancy after a failed IUI and a bonus baby.....then another bonus baby. I'm a walking mommimg miracle. I was 180 after number 4-which I attributed to nursing and Met. I was also going through a divorce so stress loss?? After number 5 I was over 40 and the nursing didn't work like it had the previous 4 times. So frustrating. So....I get wishing back a smaller large figure. Ha!! Actually 180 is my goal then.....ill assess if I want to try for more. "Maybe" 155 is a bottom weight goal. At 5'7" I don't need to be my HS weight of 135.

I have PCOS as well. When I try to lose weight, I usually can succeed though lose at a slower rate than others might. I find that taking Metformin consistently, setting MFP to lose 2lbs a week and using along with Fitbit for calorie adjustments helps the most. Also, recently I learned and have noticed how important strength training is to lose weight with PCOS. I try to do intense cardio 2x per week and strength straining 2-3x per week. I walk everyday. I really suggest reading into strength training with PCOS - there is so much out there I found helpful! Good luck!

And as others have said, try to stick with lower carbs and higher protein!

I have PCOS also. Personally, I've found that I've always been able to lose simply with calories in/calories out. I don't pay much attention to macros, eating only "clean" foods, or low carb or whatever. I gain when I'm not logging/way overeating. I have heard low carb is the way to go with PCOS, but I LOVE carbs and I think that would be extremely difficult if not impossible for me to maintain. I figure if I ever get to a point where nothing else is working, then maybe I'll try low carb. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet. I also workout pretty intensely, but I do "eat back" most of my exercise calories unless I'm truly not hungry (rare for me, haha). I think it also depends on what your goals are. I really just want to get back to a healthy bmi and work on my shape through exercise. I'm looking to be a size 6-8. If I wanted to maintain a size 2, I'd probably have to do a more specific PCOS diet.