PCOS & weigh loss?

My best friend was diagnosed with PCOS years ago, and she was able to lose about 40lbs (in 2 - 2.5 months) just counting calories and exercising every day for 30 minutes.

I've also heard that for people who have a REALLY hard time losing weight with PCOS, that a lowER (not "low"... LOWER) carb diet may help. I'm not usually an advocate for ANY kind of "diet", but I've heard this from a couple of different doctors, so I'm sure there's some kind of biological science behind it.

Hope this helps.

Love and Alohas,
Ihilani Kapuniai

I have PCOS too and my body loves to put on weight if I even slightly over eat (more than about 1200 cal a day). I've had good luck steadily losing weight by exercising almost daily (at least a half hour most days) and counting calories. I also try to eat lower carb and that helps to get the lbs off as well. Best of luck to you!

Hi Emily - I'll ask some questions for you as I know someone who is my food/exercise adviser and has a wealth of info about so much. He is a professional so I'll see what i can find out....:)

The way I understand it, it's a catch 22 kind of thing. The more you weigh, the worse the condition gets and the harder it is to the lose weight. On the flip side, that should mean that the more you lose, the easier it will get to lose because your condition will improve. I agree with the low carbs. I love them, but they don't love me ;(

People with PCOS have a harder time losing weight because they have higher insulin resistance.

You can enhance your weight loss efforts by staying away from highly refined carbs, and sometimes a lower (not low) carb diet will help that.

Some physicians will put a PCOS patient on certain diabetic medications aimed at decreasing insulin resistance. If you've been officially diagnosed, you may want to talk to your doctor about this.

SOme ways to naturally reduce insulin resistance:
Exercise
Decrease refined carb intake
Maintain a steady blood sugar by having each meal and snack contain some protein, fat, and carb
Make sure you don't over do the natural sugars either (but don't totally eliminate)
lose weight.
Cinnamon has been shown to help as well, and can be added to your meals or taken as a supplement.

I have PCOS and find it hard to lose weight
its a vicious cycle as losing weight helps the condition, but some find it hard to lose weight

good luck, dont give up x

I'm coming up on my third week and so far Ive lost 6 lbs,,,and ive had a lottt of cheat days and little exercise....so ill bump this in a month to see how its going, but yrs ago i signed up for dr. cohens personal diet...i had to send in a blood test and they selected a plan......that diet is not healthy (they had me eating around 600 - 800 cals a day...no exercise)....but I do use the guide for food types, breakfest and lunch. I researched losing weight with pcos and it said low carb.....thank god i was following that diet because my carb intake has been extremely low already because of it!.....chicken breast, turkey burgers, little to no bread, frozen steamed veggies, lettuce, baked fish/turkey wings....those are my go to foods.

I also have PCOS and yes, weight loss is a LOT harder with this condition. It also makes you more likely to gain excess weight in your stomach area, which also happens to me. In my experience, regular exercise and limiting sugar and carbs are even more important with PCOS because of the insulin resistance. Where other people can get away with consuming the recommended amounts of carbs and still lose weight, I've found that I have to limit my carbs to no more than 150g a day (and the closer to 100g the better.) I also took Glucophage/metformin for several years to address the insulin resistance and lost 50 lbs that way - I'm thinking of going back on it again because IR gets worse as you gain more weight.

Edited to add: I also recently gave up gluten and read that as many as 85 percent of women with PCOS also have gluten sensitivities. Might be worth checking into.

I work with an OBGYN. Please take a holistic approach unless your DOCTOR has recommended medication. They will if you need it! But it's only when YOU have let your weight get that high. Metformin is the medication, and believe me, you do not want to be on it unless you NEED it. If you are only borderline and push for it you will end up with more side effects.

Following more of a type 2 diabetic lifestyle will help.

Please remember PCOS is not a fertility death sentence. The better you maintain your sugar levels and weight the more likely you are to control it and still maintain fertility. PCOS will never be "cured" but it can be controlled

I have PCOS as well, diagnosed about 10-12 years ago. I was on metformin for about a year while I did 3-4 cardio and strength workouts per week, as well as generally increasing my activity level. I followed a diabetic diet for the first 6 months and trimmed the 30 lb I needed to. At that point, I worried less about diet (but still ate right) and continued with minimum 3 workouts per week and maintained that weight loss for about 7 years. The weight started to come back when our only gym in town closed and my workouts stopped. We've recently moved and I'm back at the gym and starting to shed the weight again.

It takes determination, minimal refined carbs, lots of exercise (cardio AND strength) - did I mention determination? You CAN do it!

It is hard, but possible. I'm still working at it, but we can do it!

I also have PCOS. Try reading two books:

The Insulin Resistant Diet

The PCOS Diet

Balancing your protein and carbs is very important, as well as not having too many sweets/cheats.

Good to know, I'll be stealing this reccomendation too!