Ladies with PCOS

You need to re-adjust your expectations. People with PCOS lose weight on a calorie deficit just like anyone else. How are hormones function may make the mental side of it harder (extreme hunger fluctuations in my case) and some do have a slightly lower metabolism (about 100-150 calories in my case), but no, it's not much harder to lose weight. It's only as hard as you make it for yourself.

You also need to adjust your weight expectations - 8 lbs in a month and a half is fantastic loss for most people, not just someone with PCOS. In fact, it could be too fast for some people. If you're not morbidly obese 2lbs a week is a stretch. I'm obese and your loss of 1.5 lbs a week would be a stretch for me because I would not be able to pull it off comfortably. Some people here don't have PCOS and aim for 0.5 lb a week.

I have PCOS, I'm losing at a pretty slow rate (think it's taken me about 2 months to go down 2-3lbs on an average of 1200 net calories), but it's still progress + I'm short and only maybe 6lbs overweight... 8lbs is great! it's not slow at all I wouldn't worry about it

I've lost a large amount of weight before just fine... was it maybe a little bit slower than other people might have been able to achieve? maybe.. I still dropped, at one point, about 90lbs in 1.5-2 years just by counting calories

From what I read it really isn't even that much harder for women with PCOS to lose weight, but we tend to have "male fat patterning" which means it is harder to lose from the stomach. We actually have an advantage over non-PCOS women when it comes to muscle growth due to the higher levels of androgen hormones, so take advantage of that and lift if your physical ability allows! Lyle McDonald's Womens' Book is a good read if you want to learn more.

My personal experience losing 32 lbs since October last year is that I saw my arms, face, and legs start to lean out very quickly but the gut is lagging behind, making pants fit horribly making me feel like I look perma-pregnant. Since stopping BC I noticed more "false stalls" due to my cycle. But the weight is going at a decent rate!

The best advice I have for you us to track accurately, and don't sweat the loss rate and water weight gains. If you are closer to a normal BMI than I am you might need to temper your expectations more and aim for .5-1lb loss a week. And don't worry if you don't see that rate as long as you track accurately! Weight loss is not linear and little wooshes and little stalls are normal...again as long as you track accurately.

I'm on that Pcos train, and from what I've read, fairly extensively, the range of difficulty ranges from slightly harder to very hard. Mentally though if you assume you're on the difficult end of that you'll be making it harder on yourself.

The range of Calories you burn less than someone without pcos ranges from no difference up to 400 a day less, and up too 700 a day less if you are also insulin resistant.

The discouragement of 100% effort vs. (what feels like) 10% or less result is hard, but if it wasn't hard then we wouldn't be overweight and we would have made the change long ago.

There are different forms of managing your diet and exercise for pcos that can help increase your results somewhat, but no miracle option that takes away the hard work.

Research suggests dropping wheat flour, inflammatory foods and added sugars. In training focus on resistance training, short HIIT sessions, and replace your long hard cardio sessions with exercise like walking that doesn't stress the body and increase your cortisol levels.

Good luck, any progress with pcos is a major victory. Good on you for getting started!

Five years ago, I lost 39 pounds when I first started with MFP and before I knew I had PCOS. I gained 24 lbs back fairly quickly about two years later and have struggled a lot to lose 5lbs once more. On and off medications for the last year, the stress of ultra sounds and painful cysts could be the culprit. I still have about twenty pounds to lose. I work out daily. I eat at calorie deficit. I lose nothing. Haven't for months.
It's frustrating and even more frustrating to read blanket statements. IE. "It's just as easy to lose as everyone else." I disagree. There are a lot of things going on with Insulin Resistance. I have to eat every three hours or I become dizzy and faint. I'm not diabetic. But there is a lot to contend with. Emotionally as well. And I think anxiety and hormones play a huge part in weight loss.
I wish you luck and offer support if you'd like.

Try cutting back on dairy and only eat hormone free meat, and no processed meats(they increase inflammation) like bacon,sausage..etc. increase fruits and veggies.. might help

Hello, PCOS has not affected my weight loss at all, or made it harder, it makes me more moody, and more hungry but still just smash thru it like it doesn’t matter