A question for PCOS sufferers

Hi Nicole Kayy,
I have battled this my whole life and have yo-yo dieted, lost, and gained. Currently, Im in nursing school and am generally less active and not eating as healthy as I should. So I recently went to a dietician who had experience and success working with clients with PCOS. I wanted a healthy eating plan as opposed to dieting which I would be able to use long term and would consider culture, holidays, lifestyle etc. I strongly suggest you see one too while using the app as well. *note* nutritionists and dietitians are different. Dieticians are licensed and generally have much more experience!

I hope to eventually get involved in medical research on a cure for PCOS but until I do...
Here are some top things I wrote down in a diary that I'm happy to share with you and anyone else reading this:

1. I must eat enough protein. Since being a vegetarian 3 years ago, some of my intake has been replaced with carbs (which you still need btw, but I'll get to that). In order for your body to start building lean muscle and burn fat, this is what needs to happen. Amount needed per day will vary based on your weight.
Examples for someone who doesn't eat meat include: Wild caught fish, canned tuna (on occasion bc high in mercury) but canned salmon better, tofu, edamame, tempeh, soy milk, cottage cheese, string cheese, and beans.
*Processed soy products are actually harmful. Even though they have protein, they contain other ingredients which mess with hormone production in the body and can actually cause weight gain.

2. The real skinny on fats & carbs: your body needs them. It's just in what form...
Ideally one should have a whole carb at two meals/day. This includes: 1 slice of ezekiel toast, 1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa, sweet potato etc.
Healthy Fats should be about 1 tbls/meal. These include: olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds.

3. You can still eat dessert! Trend dieting or completely refraining from eating treats doesn't work in the long run, because it's not sustainable. You have to live your life. That being said, if you have healthy and mindful eating most of the week, you can still eat 1-2 moderate sized desserts/week and STILL LOSE.
Sometimes when we have sweet cravings it's because of low protein...so see #1

4. Activity. Even though it's not an excuse, the reality is I study more and move less. But even bursts of activity can be helpful! The dietician said 2 min out of every hour of sitting at my computer, I can get up and do jumping jacks, run up and down stairs in school, or brisk walking around my building/apt. Optimal to get 10,000 steps/day.
Of course once I pass my boards, moderate exercise is suggested for 30 min x 5 days/week.

Wishing you best of luck!

Just eat at maintenance once every week or two.

I have PCOS and have lost 51 lbs as of today. I don't do cheat days as a planned regular part of my diet, but I will have certain family events a few times a year where I will eat up to maintenance. I never have just a free for all and eat whatever though. I incorporate all of my favorite foods in my diet. Like for example...this morning's breakfast was 3 slices of bacon, 3 medium eggs scrambled with 15g of green chilies, 40 g of sliced avocado, and my cup of coffee with cream and sugar that I measure out. I usually skip lunch. My dinner was 6.8 oz of chicken breast with BBQ sauce that I measure out, and a string cheese. Work food ( I work nights) is 4.2 oz of chicken breast with BBQ sauce, an apple, a vitamin water mango flavor, and 4 squares of a giant Hershey bar with almonds.

I usually have some type of dessert every day.
In my opinion cheat days are so different depending on who you ask. I consider eating up to maintenance for a day to be "cheating", Some consider a cheat day to be a day to just eat and not worry about calories. Days like that could be bad and potentially wipe out any deficit you worked hard for through the week.

Long story short...don't cut out foods or really limit yourself and you really won't need to cheat.

I have PCOS and I have lost a lot. I also don't do low carb or any special diets. What I do is log the things, trying to balance my calories and any higher calorie foods I feel like having every now and then. With time and experience you pick up a few tricks that would make this easier for you. Dieting restrictively has never worked for me. I eat without actual planned cheat days, but some days do end up at or slightly above maintenance, and I take full diet breaks from time to time like around holidays. When I have certain social events that involve food or an evening out I do plan for them by saving calories or making up for the excess. I basically bend my diet flexibly around my life, not the other way around. It's not a problem if you don't let your high days happen more often/have a higher calorie impact than your deficit days.

One thing you may find is that you could be losing slightly slower (or faster for some people) than expected, which can be true for anyone regardless of medical condition because calculations are simply population averages and different people have slightly different metabolisms. This is especially the case if your thyroid levels are on the low side like mine are. It's not that big of a deal. After a few months you will get a sense of your calories and your maintenance.

It's best to get out of that mindset that you need to diet hard enough to need an outlet (cheat days). It's far easier and more sustainable to not change too much too fast. With that said, if you're one of the few who find it easier to go hard then take a breather, nothing is wrong with that. Try things out and pick the easiest route for you.