PCOS- body image and food issues

Hi. I'm having the same issues.
Due to an estrogen dominance, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. The Doctors also told me about the PCOS...but didn't explain anything!
I've been doing a lot of research, and wow! It's all coming clear now. I had no idea all the effects it has had on my body.
I'm working on a low-carb diet and tons of exercise. One of my docs said "your body is fighting to keep the weight on"
Greaaaaaaaaat.

People with PCOS definitely have to workout smarter not harder. I think many people not just those of us with PCOS think we have to spend hours at the gym, and that may be true to get great results but with PCOS, you do have hormonal issues that work differently and putting in that much time at the gym isn't necessarily the cure. Adding in relaxation exercises, like yoga is also helpful for us, to keep cortisol levels down. The hormones are a pain in the *kitten*. We can lose weight, it just takes a little bit of tweaking to find the right combo, and one size doesn't fit all unfortunately since most of us suffer different symptoms and one month I could have higher testosterone, and the next be perfectly balanced according to "testing" and ovulate and what not. It's a frustrating chronic condition that you need to learn to work around. For me low carb seems to work the best, but it is truly difficult to stay away from processed carbs, and once they are in the system, it's like a beast trying to maintain, so for me I can't just have a little because a little leads to uncontrollable binging for weeks on it before I can finally reign myself in. Other people can moderately consume pastas or work those things in to their diet for me I just can't seem to do it without going off the rails. It takes a lot of tweaking, just like with everything else where diet is concern, but the gym aspect, I try to just listen to my body. If I am tired and I'm scheduled to do a workout, sometimes I just don't do it and the next day I feel better, and I do my scheduled workout. I used to be obsessive about making sure I got every single workout I scheduled in, and it didn't serve me at all with the scale, and then I would totally crash at some point because I needed the rest.

I like it when I get a woo, it shows someone should be doing some real thinking not just twitching their index finger. They should follow up their belief that life should not be compromised in this way.

edited to add. Ignorance is bliss.

A better life is much more blissful believe me, read those links and be ahead of the field to a good life.

another thought to those ladies who did not/would not click the links

What are you afraid of reading. You are capable of your own critical analysis, you can accept the science put in front of you or reject it.

If someone on here told you not to bother with the latest best seller because that person you do not know in real life said it was bad, would not at least open the cover to make your own decision?

My dietitian is not overly supportive of low carb diets for me (also with PCOS), however she explains that the carbs need to be from whole grains as much as possible. Also, us PCOS girls need to be very mindful of sugar intake. Even if eating a natural sugar (fruit) it should not be eaten alone, but instead paired with other foods that contain fiber,protein, fats.

I've been obsessive when it comes to tracking food and eating healthy for as long as I can remember and I work out pretty hard at least 4 times a week and go to yoga a few times a week as well. For a while, my dietitian was actually worried about how obsessive I was with tracking and trying to eat perfectly, but it is so easy when you are trying so hard and not seeing results to become obsessive about it. It wasn't until I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS and started learning about little tweaks that it started making a difference. I should also mention I was insulin resistant and started metformin also. It's only been a couple weeks so far, but the scale is going down. And this is the first time I've seen consistent losses in a LONG time.

Good luck with everything and consider talking to a registered dietitian. Many insurance plans cover a few visits a year!

Oh John, One forms a critical opinion after one has read all the evidence, this is what scientists do. You and I will never see eye to eye on anything. I fear you are biased.

I believe given half a chance, all people are capable of takeing decisions and forming opinions and do not need men to tell them, "poor little you, you do not have the critical accumin to decided what is best for you". Row V Wade. Man thought he knew how she should live her life and was told eventually NO. She had an opinion of her own, you may see it right or wrong, its not my decision nor yours its hers which counted. My opinion is different to yours. A woman has the right to chose! I value the work of Mercola. I value the work of Hedberg, I value the work of Kresser and the persons who realised murcury damages health and all the others who have shown moulds can damage your health. Not everyone's body works to the same proforma as the next. There can be adrenal issues without someone having ALS or Cushing's.

You are talking to someone who has suffered chemical sensitivity, autoimmune conditions, food sensitivities and was house bound, had joint pain and more, who by reading these people and more, consulting someone here in the UK. I now have a life which is worlds apart from the one I was permitted by our general medicine who have their heads in the dark ages. I hope you will laugh at this one, I really do, one doctor told me the pain I was suffering and went to him about, was what should be expected, by a woman in her 40's. Only a few months later I had major surgery for a cancer!! What the heck and if I'd been treated by someone who understood the true interactions of the body, I would not have had cancer in the first place. I have been told this by an eminent Professor.

What is your problem with people following the links, those links show evidence which is different to that you esteem so highly, exposing your personal bias. For many of us older women for whom every year is even more precious, those links and the doctors you despise because they follow the bodies chain reactions, causations of why things happen, how the adrenal glands impact on the other glands in the endocrine system which puts women into the traumatic situations such as PCOS. Forgive me, you have personal experienced of all that PCOS, rather than second hand explanations. Please Read the works of Chris Kresser, Mark Hedberg, Mercola, who provided the only vitc without bioflavonoids when I needed it. These and the others have a multi factorial approach rather than seeing the body as totally fragmented.

I have to confess I don't understand one of your statements, some kind of Latin quote I fear, or a line of who knows what. I'm not even going to ask you to translate. If I'm found guilty of bias, for saying read, and come to your own conclusion, so be it. I would be biased if I said, I do not accept your right to use this information or not, as you did: they are entitled to do with their lives as they will.

You are biased by saying none of the information in the links put forward has any relevance to them. There is a very strong probability some of these ladies are suffering and I mean suffering from things related to adrenal fatigue/insufficiency, in adequate output, and you should do some reading for yourself and follow down the pathways it sets before you, to the ultimate end. Live and learn.

I don't think I will be back. I stand by the links posted by another, very considerate woman. I know these women are capable of independent critical reading. Please will you give them credit for being able to do so. The person reading a book will come to their own opinion. As they will reading this.

I have decided to give you the last word. I believe I have shown you to be guilty of bias.

Raegold wrote: »

ipmac22 wrote: »

My dietitian is not overly supportive of low carb diets for me (also with PCOS), however she explains that the carbs need to be from whole grains as much as possible. Also, us PCOS girls need to be very mindful of sugar intake. Even if eating a natural sugar (fruit) it should not be eaten alone, but instead paired with other foods that contain fiber,protein, fats.

I've been obsessive when it comes to tracking food and eating healthy for as long as I can remember and I work out pretty hard at least 4 times a week and go to yoga a few times a week as well. For a while, my dietitian was actually worried about how obsessive I was with tracking and trying to eat perfectly, but it is so easy when you are trying so hard and not seeing results to become obsessive about it. It wasn't until I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS and started learning about little tweaks that it started making a difference. I should also mention I was insulin resistant and started metformin also. It's only been a couple weeks so far, but the scale is going down. And this is the first time I've seen consistent losses in a LONG time.

Good luck with everything and consider talking to a registered dietitian. Many insurance plans cover a few visits a year!

Glad you're seeing improvements! I think everyone with PCOS is so different, I guess why it's a 'syndrome'... I was on Metformin for a little while doing fertility treatments, and I was way more hungry and kinda nauseous, I didn't see any weight loss from it. I figure I will eventually be on it again for health reasons when I'm a little older.

I've heard that from others, but despite all the hard work with eating right and working out before, I wasn't able to do it, and now I finally feel like my efforts are showing. So far all I can chalk it up to is a combination of the metformin and the tweaks I made nutritionally after learning about the diagnosis. I really would consider talking to a registered dietitian who can go over your specifics to help. A lot of people here have great advice, others not so great, but at the end of the day, as you mention, we are all different. Having a professional take a total look at YOU can make a huge difference.