Weight Loss Tips for PCOS

ladassie · February 2019

Hi There

Any tips for weight loss for a women who have PCOS! It’s so hard losing weight with PCOS!!! Any given advice would be greatly appreciated 😊

musicfan68 · February 2019

Put your stats into MFP and set a reasonable deficit, and weigh solid foods, measure liquids - everything you eat - to get an accurate calorie count. PCOS doesn't really make it that much harder to lose. You just have to make sure you are in a calorie deficit.

smrr5624 · February 2019

I’m having luck with a high nutrient keto diet phased with a plant based diet. Look up the book Ketotarian. PCOS is often an insulin sensitivity thing, so you want to get your sugars and carbs lower than the average civilian. I use the premium feature to track macros and aim for a calorie deficit at the same time. Good luck!

apullum · February 2019

Weight loss happens when you eat fewer calories than your body burns. This is true for everyone, including people with PCOS. You don't need to follow any special diets or restrict any foods unless your doctor told you to do that. For weight loss, you just have to be in a calorie deficit, and you can ensure a calorie deficit by weighing and logging all your food.

MikePTY · February 2019

Lower carb diets tend to be effective for PCOS because they can help improve some of the overall symptoms as well as weight loss. My wife was out on a PCOS specific diet by a nutritionist that is lower carb but not as restrictive as Keto/Atkins. In addition to weight loss she's also noticed an improvement in her overall well being.

xxzenabxx · February 2019

Do a low carb diet where you keep your carbs under 100g. Obviously eat a balanced diet of veggies, whole grains, meat, fish, eggs, fruit, dairy, cheese, nuts, seeds etc. Do some exercise and I don’t agree with the above poster. PCOS can make it harder to lose weight. We find it harder to be satisfied with smaller portions. Also most PCOS have insulin resistance. I have mild insulin resistance. In my family almost everyone is diabetic or has heart disease! I would recommend to keep your fat macros high and we need healthy fats to help balance out hormones. I have PCOS too. Start of slow and you’ll get there!

ladassie · February 2019

Thank you! You’re absolutely right, it’s very hard for women with PCOS to lose weight.

apullum · February 2019

ladassie wrote: »

Thank you! You’re absolutely right, it’s very hard for women with PCOS to lose weight.

I have PCOS and I lost 100 pounds. The first thing I had to do was stop letting myself believe that I couldn’t lose weight because of my PCOS. Then I consistently ate within my MFP calorie goal. Your weight loss may go a little bit slower than others’, but a calorie deficit still works for everyone.

MikePTY · February 2019

musicfan68 wrote: »

Put your stats into MFP and set a reasonable deficit, and weigh solid foods, measure liquids - everything you eat - to get an accurate calorie count. PCOS doesn't really make it that much harder to lose. You just have to make sure you are in a calorie deficit.

I don't really think that last part is true, especially for women with moderate to severe PCOS. It's a disease that affects women in different ways, and some may not have the same effects as others. I've watched my wife struggle with it for years. The rules of losing weight with PCOS are the same as anyone else losing weight: eat less than you burn. But post that, it does get a lot more difficult. First off, a lot of women with PCOS have metabolic issues, and burn less than others at their similar stats. I know my 31 year old wife had metabolic testing done at her nutritionist and it showed that she had the metabolic rate of a 57 year old that costs her a couple of hundred calories a day that she would normally be able to have if she didn't have PCOS.

But more importantly, a lot of the side effects can make it harder to do the basic things that she needs to do to in order to lose weight. Between constantly dealing with different pains all over her body, bad headaches, needing to sleep many hours a day, always being tired and lacking energy etc, getting dizzy/sick when she does strenuous exercise, etc, it makes it hard for her to do exercise or focus on cooking/making healthy choices. When it's a struggle to get out of bed some days, it makes focusing on food choices not the top priority.

All of this does not mean weight loss is impossible on PCOS. The new diet from her nutritionist as well as getting a healthy lunch delivery service, plus making some smarter lifestyle choices, is helping her finally shed some of the weight. So it can be done. I just don't think we should try to be dismissive of the large challenges that a lot of women with PCOS face in their weight loss.

laur387 · February 2019

Hi there, I have PCOS with insulin resistance. I have lived with this condition since around 14, and I'll be 32 in a few weeks. At 29, I went into crisis (gaining 40 pounds) and was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I was able to lower my A1C back to a healthy range within three months- no prescription meds needed. Here are tips that worked for me, and I share them with the best of intentions and hope that they make a difference to someone else with this condition:

- PCOS has slowed my metabolism significantly. On average, I keep my caloric intake between 1100 and 1300 daily. I structure my macros as 25% carbs, 40% fat, and 35% protein. Also, I eat a high protein, near-zero carb breakfast- usually eggs, turkey bacon, avocado. The fat and protein offset any wacky blood sugars first thing in the morning and clear up the early morning "fogginess" feeling. My type 1 diabetic friend shared with me a medical phenom- diabetics see an insulin spike around 2 am regardless of what they eat. This may mean that you cannot tolerate carbs as well in the morning, if your PCOS is related to insulin resistance.

-Intermittent fasting works wonders, but it's not ideal with my work schedule. So, I structure my carb consumption similarly- i.e. I eat most carbs between noon and 6-7pm. I think that intermittent fasting is an ideal way of eating for PCOS and I would encourage anyone to explore such.

- If you are a coffee drinker, please stop. If you MUST caffeine (it's a verb for me) consider green tea. Coffee is awful for our already stressed adrenal glands. And water consumption- if I don't drink enough ("enough" being half my body weight in ounces or more) then the joint pain and bloating take over.

- I exercise no fewer than 3 times a week. My fitness program is centered around strength training (lifting weights) and HIIT because these methods have been proven to regulate hormones and lower blood sugar. I have to pair carbs with protein before I workout or else I will get nauseous. Banana and peanut butter or a small serving of granola with Silk High Protein Almond/Cashew milk are my go-to pre-workout snacks.

- Supplements: PCOS women are often deficient in a number of nutrients. I supplement with the following- inositol (lowers blood sugar), daily multi-vitamin (with folate rather than folic acid and high level of Vit D), saw palmetto (lowers androgen levels), omega 3s (flax or fish oil), bee propolis (superfood that repairs cellular damage)

- I sleep and rest when my body tells me to do so. With a well-maintained blood sugar, I need 6-8 hours of sleep per night. I also have very hard days where I want to sleep 12-14 hours or more. I used to force myself to push through the tough days, and as a result I would have no energy for exercise and work. Now, I embrace recovery periods when my body calls for them.

With these guidelines, I have 'transformed' my body, whether I have lost inches or pounds. I don't own a scale- I measure my bust, waist, and hips and use these indicators to track progress. I haven't lost all of the weight I gained at 29 and I work my butt off, but that's a burden of this condition. The most import thing is to understand that PCOS manifests itself in a varied number of ways. The expectation that any combination of macros, so long as it yields a caloric deficit will yield in weight loss is misleading and untrue. PCOS is frustrating, but I encourage you to be patient with your body and spirit.

Weight Loss Tips for PCOS

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