PCOS and Weight Loss

Have you talked to a dietician? PCOS patients often respond well to lower carb/ low GI diets.

While waiting for an appointment with a dietician, you might look into something like the South Beach Diet, that starts you off with a severe limitation to help eliminate cravings, but then teaches you to slowly add back in whole grains while observing their effect on you. In this way, you can determine what works best for you.

I'm in a similar boat with PCOS, and the best advice I have is to just keep going. Seriously. Every little bit of weight loss will all add up in the end. Also, try to work towards smaller goals and celebrate when you achieve those goals so that losing 100lbs isn't so overwhelming.

I have pcos and hypothyroid. I'm 36 with 5 kids. I have 60 lbs to lose. I start lose weight and quit and gain it all back. I really need to stick to something .

mommybehealthy wrote: »

@leticiafriend86 you are exactly right. Every little bit helps. I know I should be happy with my progress thus far, and I think I will start back looking at smaller goals. 100lbs seems so far away.
@StacyChrz - other friends of mine keep telling me to give up dairy. I know that since giving up gluten I do feel MUCH better, but I have found that when I'm eating more dairy I do feel more bloated, more achy etc. I have lots of issues with inflammation as well. That's awesome on your weight loss thus far. I may have to give in and start cutting out the dairy. Thanks for sharing!
@jenmomto4 I completely understand losing weight quitting and gaining it all back. In my case I lose, then gain back 10 more than what I lost. This is the first time I've refused to stop, and have only gained back a max of 5lbs at any given point in the past 8 months, but it's so incredibly frustrating

Thanks all for responding!

I agree with Leticia, maybe set yourself a goal of 5 lbs and then work from there. As for giving up dairy, it will be tough the first few days but after that it won't be bad. I feel like the reward is really worth it. I am not going to say that being in a public setting is easy, it's much easier to control at home, but it makes a huge difference for me.

I could lose no weight without severe restriction and outrageous amounts of exercise until my RE/fertility doc put me on metoformin 1000mg twice a day. Then I could lose normally if I followed a normal exercise and eating plan.

I was diagnosed with PCOS back in 2014. I thought it was just a fertility thing but I got pregnant right after. I had no idea it affected weight loss. Back in the fall I cut added sugars out of my diet and lost some weight but perhaps the PCOS stunted that? Perhaps its something to talk to the doc about.

Hey, I don't have pcos, but i do have Hashimotos and it's extremely difficult to lose with thyroid disease as well. I understand the struggle of health issues impacting weight loss. Feel free to add

Hi!

I've been feeling with pcos since I was 15 and would be happy to add you.

There's a ton of advice I can give! Go see an endocrinologist asap. You may need to take a trip and get a referral from your doc for insurance reasons.

As far as meds, metformin isn't being prescribed for pcos anymore and my doc took me off it. Get on birth control pills if you can. They helped me so much in regulating my female hormones. My hair was falling out too, but there is a blood pressure medication called spironolactone and it has a side affect of blocking androgens from being received, which is the hormone that causes our hair loss. And it totally worked for me!

As far as diet and exercise, stay away from simple carbs and try and high fiber, high protein or high fat diet. I really love lots of fruit and veggies with yogurt, hummus, nutbutters and cheese. But basically a portion of any carb we eat will go straight to fat because of insulin resistance, if you have that. Use Google!

I'm at a point in my life where I got down to a fit 165 about a year ago, then let myself go and gained it all back and then some. Now I'm darting all over, but bound and determined to be healthy again.

We can totally do this! If you want to friend me, I'm cool with that.

Hi! After exercising and eating right for over a year with no results, I am close to giving up. I have highly irregular periods too.
I just had my ultrasound scan on Monday. Initially the sonographer said I have cysts on my ovaries, but I will have to wait until the doctor can determine whether I have PCOS or not. I have all the signs and symptoms of it, so I am hoping this doctor will tell me that it's definite in a couple of weeks time.
I'm looking to lose about 50lbs, and so far I have only lost 3lbs due to food poisoning last week
Best of luck to everyone! This is highly frustrating.

Hi everyone, I was put on birth control pills at 14 after having a cyst rupture and no one realized I had PCOS because the pills covered up the symptoms. I was only diagnosed as a Freshman in college. When I went to the Doctor's office, he took me off the pill to see what would happen. He didn't believe I had it because I didn't have bad acne and wasn't hairy. Low and behold I had the free testosterone levels of twice the normal woman. There was also a note on my ultrasound at 14 that I had pearls on my ovaries that no one told me about. I am in grad school and have started a 1200-calorie diet. I have always eaten better than my peers but just kept gaining. I am also always hungry which does not help. I read a bunch of studies that have said we have a resting metabolism of 1150-1450. I am making an appointment soon to have mine tested at our health center.

Concerning medications, I am currently on extended release Metformin and Cryselle (birth control pill). I have been on lots of different medications that worked for a while (no sickness) but after a year or two I couldn't keep them down (Metformin, then Glumetza, then Glucovance). FYI, the Glucovance didn't make me vomit but when I tried to be active, it gave me hypoglycemia. I was on Spironolactone but because it is a diuretic, I had digestive issues. I might try to get back on it to see if it helps now that my diet isn't college food. Before Cryselle, I was on Yaz because it has a similar chemical compound to Spironolactone and since I was going to take it separately, I didn't need the extra dosage. Vitamin wise, I've been taking women's gummies but realized I need more. I suggest that all of ya'll get your vitamin D levels checked. I had mine done and they were the lowest she had seen even though I was talking supplements. I found out it might be genetic (my mom took 5,000 iu D3 everyday for months and only got up to the line), or related to PCOS (according to lots of googling). I now take 5,000 iu D3 a day (to be checked soon), and fish oil supplements (which is supposed to be good for us). I will tell you the best thing you can do is take your Metformin. It stabilized by weight at least.

One thing that is driving me crazy is I can't find a consensus on what kind of diet to eat. My endocrinologist didn't know besides telling me that instead of having 4-6 servings of carbs a day, I should have 4. I have seen lots of contrary advice: eat lots of beans, eat no beans, vegetarian is best, no, try Atkins. High dairy, no dairy, eat nuts, don't eat nuts. I got this app to give me more accountability and to help me keep track of all of my nutrients and macros. I just need someone to tell me the right numbers to type in and I will be good to go. Hopefully, ya'll all have some good advice for me.

You now know everything I do after all of these years.

Hi everyone ! I'm really happy to see this thread ! I was diagnosed with pcos when I was 15, my weight was mostly fine but after I hit 18 it just started going up and not going down like at all. I plan on losing 45 lbs (hopefully)

After lots of research I really recommend the AIP diet for people like me who have auto immune disorders and also for people with food sensitivities and allergies (personally ive got a long list). You can take my word that it really helps. My sister is gluten intolerant and also suffers from auto immune disorders. I have auto immune disorders as well as arthritis,glaucoma, pcos and a few other things I won't mention cause the list is long haha. she and I did the change together and it helped to reduce inflammation in our body as well as reduce our migranes (which was a godsend). Also our food sensitivities are not nearly as intense for the most part although I can safely say that it made my soy allergy much more apparent and fast reacting. As for my sister her body constantly has hives and she is always itchy and her symptoms never really go away. After this diet change her symptoms reduced significantly.

If anyone wants to give it a try or ask any questions about actually being on the diet feel free to ask!

Oh I do have one question for anyone willing to answer .. my doctor recommended metformin, but she also said there was no harm if I dont take it. So now im confused should I take the pills or should I just wait until I need them? And if so.. when do I know if I need them ?

@MeganSchuyler16 thanks for the response I guess I'll have to try out the birth control then since less pain is always a winner in my book haha