Success with PCOS

I too, have PCOS. I take Metformin for it and am VERY careful about the quality of carbs and sugars. I try to get most of it from furit and veggies. I have lost 169 lbs so far....... it is possible, you just have to work to get the balance. I get about 100 - 120 carbs a day (90% of which I get from natural sources), feel full, continuously lose weight and only have about 30ish more to go!

Good for you! That is really impressive! Can I ask what your goal weight is? I just feel like I would never be able to maintain what the charts say my weight should be. So I'm shooting for somewhere in the 'overweight' category.

LOL....150 is what I'm currently shooting for (my ticker is counting down to a much higher number than that) and I'm only 5'4". I justify it because I've got at least 10 lbs. of boobs that never go away LOL.

I have PCOS as well and I have been staying within my calorie goals for about 4 months an not losing. I FINALLY decided to bite the bullet and make the effort to seriously reduce the carbs. I LOVE sweets, especially chocolate and ice cream, so this is very difficult for me. I have also started C25K. I am not on metformin and I am also hypothyroid which doesnt help with the weight loss battle for sure. Just stick with it!!! When I do go lower carb, I lose a lot easier

I have PCOS as well and I have been staying within my calorie goals for about 4 months an not losing. I FINALLY decided to bite the bullet and make the effort to seriously reduce the carbs. I LOVE sweets, especially chocolate and ice cream, so this is very difficult for me. I have also started C25K. I am not on metformin and I am also hypothyroid which doesnt help with the weight loss battle for sure. Just stick with it!!! When I do go lower carb, I lose a lot easier

MANY PCOS women are also hypothyroid. I don't think they've figured out the connection yet, but I do believe there is one. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is one of my autoimmune disorders.

I was told by a trainer who also has PCOS that you have to do specific exercises when doing cardio (sort of like HITT cardio exercises) and then weight training. I personally have had zero success with losing weight having PCOS, so I don't know the magic formula to success at this time. I am considering surgical weightloss at this point since it seems I have tried everything, many trainers, docs, etc. I also take Metformin, and it worked by dropping ten pounds the first month, but it's come back, plus 20 more. I hope you find what you're looking for and are successful!

BUMP.....I have PCOS too and I am struggling with losing the weight to help our fertility process. I'm looking for answers as well.

it seems like everyone has PCOS, I don't know if I have it, as I don't go to the doctor, but what do you mean by quickly enough? if you're losing or averaging 1 pound a week or 4 in a month, that's healthy and most likely fat, and the slower you lose, you're likely to keep it off long term. drink plenty water, eat when you're hungry, eat fruits/veggies. it's not hard, it's a matter or doing it, we're all a lot smarter and capable than we think we are.

Its not just weight issues with pcos, its fertility, acne, hair. U wud no if u had it.
N some of us do eat healthy n it stil doesnt come off, its harder for us pcos sufferers than someone that doesnt have it !!!

It's always humorous to me when people who don't have family members or themselves go through PCOS think that our bodies work the same way as theirs and that it should be "easy." If it were easy, when I was 16, eating little, and running 3 plus miles every single day, I should have been a healthy weight range. I have yet to see a healthy weight range since puberty. It's like telling an autistic person that it's easy to think like everyone else, just do xyz every day and you'll snap right out of it. Doesn't work that way. PCOS is for life. It never goes away, and it always affects how your body uses and stores nutrients and how it responds to exercise.

I was told by a trainer who also has PCOS that you have to do specific exercises when doing cardio (sort of like HITT cardio exercises) and then weight training. I personally have had zero success with losing weight having PCOS, so I don't know the magic formula to success at this time. I am considering surgical weightloss at this point since it seems I have tried everything, many trainers, docs, etc. I also take Metformin, and it worked by dropping ten pounds the first month, but it's come back, plus 20 more. I hope you find what you're looking for and are successful!

The metformin KILLS my stomach when I start taking it- but it's better with a healthy diet, and within a week-10 days I'm feeling better. This is the main reason I have become so diligent in remembering to take it. OH MY- I took it twice about 4 hours apart because i thought I'd forgotten that morning and MAN it wasn't pretty. I actually left work and went home early.

Anyway- without the metformin I wasn't able to lose anything beyon my first 14lbs. I was plateaued at 260 for 3 months or more with good eating and regular exercise, so I finally broke down and got back on it. I'm not going to say it's been easy, but it's actually coming off now. I plateaued again around 240, which was frustrating, but it happens.

Before surgery, I'd recommend meeting with an endocrinologist to make sure it's not thyroid or something else. I mean, if you haven't ruled that out yet. To me, combating the symptoms with surgery is just so risky compared to addressing the problem at its root. you wouldn't want to have the surgery and then gain it all back. Good luck with it either way!

Yeah docs have done many test with me so now I'm working with a different clinic, but they do work with surgical weight loss. However, they are going to monitor me for three months on their recommended diet to see what happens. I've debated surgery for a year now, because I've fought this my whole life without any answers. I bring them my food and exercise journal and they just shrug at me, because they believe too that I should be losing about 1lb a week doing what I had been doing. So we're not sure if surgery will make it come off either, but apparently some of the surgeries help with PCOS in a way that you can't do without it. I wouldn't be considering surgery if I felt like I had another option. I do NOT want to get as big as the rest of my family, and at this point, I feel like I have absolutely no control over my weight or my body. I can't stop it from gaining weight, no matter what new exercise I do, eating only fruits and veggies and only lean meats, etc etc. No one knows why my body isn't responding to the metformin or the diets or the exercise like other bodies respond. I can't afford to wait five years to lose ten to 20 lbs (when I have 80 plus to lose and am unable to "live life" to my standards and have a healthy relationship with my bf-I will drive him absolutely crazy if this has to go on another five years)....

Low carbs and sugars. I eat like a diabetic with a lot of sugar free things. I hate metformine and wont take it so i have controlled my sugar by what i eat

I was told by a trainer who also has PCOS that you have to do specific exercises when doing cardio (sort of like HITT cardio exercises) and then weight training. I personally have had zero success with losing weight having PCOS, so I don't know the magic formula to success at this time. I am considering surgical weightloss at this point since it seems I have tried everything, many trainers, docs, etc. I also take Metformin, and it worked by dropping ten pounds the first month, but it's come back, plus 20 more. I hope you find what you're looking for and are successful!

The metformin KILLS my stomach when I start taking it- but it's better with a healthy diet, and within a week-10 days I'm feeling better. This is the main reason I have become so diligent in remembering to take it. OH MY- I took it twice about 4 hours apart because i thought I'd forgotten that morning and MAN it wasn't pretty. I actually left work and went home early.

Anyway- without the metformin I wasn't able to lose anything beyon my first 14lbs. I was plateaued at 260 for 3 months or more with good eating and regular exercise, so I finally broke down and got back on it. I'm not going to say it's been easy, but it's actually coming off now. I plateaued again around 240, which was frustrating, but it happens.

Before surgery, I'd recommend meeting with an endocrinologist to make sure it's not thyroid or something else. I mean, if you haven't ruled that out yet. To me, combating the symptoms with surgery is just so risky compared to addressing the problem at its root. you wouldn't want to have the surgery and then gain it all back. Good luck with it either way!

Yeah docs have done many test with me so now I'm working with a different clinic, but they do work with surgical weight loss. However, they are going to monitor me for three months on their recommended diet to see what happens. I've debated surgery for a year now, because I've fought this my whole life without any answers. I bring them my food and exercise journal and they just shrug at me, because they believe too that I should be losing about 1lb a week doing what I had been doing. So we're not sure if surgery will make it come off either, but apparently some of the surgeries help with PCOS in a way that you can't do without it. I wouldn't be considering surgery if I felt like I had another option. I do NOT want to get as big as the rest of my family, and at this point, I feel like I have absolutely no control over my weight or my body. I can't stop it from gaining weight, no matter what new exercise I do, eating only fruits and veggies and only lean meats, etc etc. No one knows why my body isn't responding to the metformin or the diets or the exercise like other bodies respond. I can't afford to wait five years to lose ten to 20 lbs.

What dose of Met are you on? How and when do you take it? What other diabetic medications have you tried? Have they tested not only your thyroid function (TSH, T3, T4) but also tested for anti-thyroid antibodies? What were your thyroid levels when you had them tested?

After trying to conceive for 2 years, I was diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance. My doctor put me on Metformin, and I lost about 9 lbs is all, but without changing eating/exercising habits, and then after I started taking it, I at least stopped gaining weight so easily. It helped me stabilize. I stopped taking it after my first trimester per my reproductive endocrinologists suggestion. After i quit breastfeeding, I gained a ton of weight, and seemingly overnight. I started taking Metformin again last fall to stop the weight gain. After I started taking it again, I did quit gaining weight. I haven't lost much weight, and what I have lost was from calorie cutting. FYI for all you people out there trying to conceive, my heart goes out to you and I wish you the best. Metformin, Letrozole + Hcg trigger, and IUI worked for me.

I was told by a trainer who also has PCOS that you have to do specific exercises when doing cardio (sort of like HITT cardio exercises) and then weight training. I personally have had zero success with losing weight having PCOS, so I don't know the magic formula to success at this time. I am considering surgical weightloss at this point since it seems I have tried everything, many trainers, docs, etc. I also take Metformin, and it worked by dropping ten pounds the first month, but it's come back, plus 20 more. I hope you find what you're looking for and are successful!

The metformin KILLS my stomach when I start taking it- but it's better with a healthy diet, and within a week-10 days I'm feeling better. This is the main reason I have become so diligent in remembering to take it. OH MY- I took it twice about 4 hours apart because i thought I'd forgotten that morning and MAN it wasn't pretty. I actually left work and went home early.

Anyway- without the metformin I wasn't able to lose anything beyon my first 14lbs. I was plateaued at 260 for 3 months or more with good eating and regular exercise, so I finally broke down and got back on it. I'm not going to say it's been easy, but it's actually coming off now. I plateaued again around 240, which was frustrating, but it happens.

Before surgery, I'd recommend meeting with an endocrinologist to make sure it's not thyroid or something else. I mean, if you haven't ruled that out yet. To me, combating the symptoms with surgery is just so risky compared to addressing the problem at its root. you wouldn't want to have the surgery and then gain it all back. Good luck with it either way!

Yeah docs have done many test with me so now I'm working with a different clinic, but they do work with surgical weight loss. However, they are going to monitor me for three months on their recommended diet to see what happens. I've debated surgery for a year now, because I've fought this my whole life without any answers. I bring them my food and exercise journal and they just shrug at me, because they believe too that I should be losing about 1lb a week doing what I had been doing. So we're not sure if surgery will make it come off either, but apparently some of the surgeries help with PCOS in a way that you can't do without it. I wouldn't be considering surgery if I felt like I had another option. I do NOT want to get as big as the rest of my family, and at this point, I feel like I have absolutely no control over my weight or my body. I can't stop it from gaining weight, no matter what new exercise I do, eating only fruits and veggies and only lean meats, etc etc. No one knows why my body isn't responding to the metformin or the diets or the exercise like other bodies respond. I can't afford to wait five years to lose ten to 20 lbs.

This may sound extreme but you should consider a glutten free diet with 80% raw. I am reading a book called "Wheat Belly" and it explains a lot about why carbs suck!

That's a good suggestion, but yes, I have tried that as well.

Met really only causes weight loss without diet/exercise because of the nasty side effects. Things tend to go right through you until your body adjusts to it. However, it makes it easier to lose weight once your insulin sensitivity is increased closer to normal levels. I've been on met for 12+ years but only last year made the effort to truly try to lose weight. I think I did lose about 20 lbs. initially on Met but did gain it back later. It also took me 10+ years before I faithfully took my full dosage each day due to the side effects. Worst 3 weeks of my life when I finally started taking it.

After trying to conceive for 2 years, I was diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance. My doctor put me on Metformin, and I lost about 9 lbs is all, but without changing eating/exercising habits, and then after I started taking it, I at least stopped gaining weight so easily. It helped me stabilize. I stopped taking it after my first trimester per my reproductive endocrinologists suggestion. After i quit breastfeeding, I gained a ton of weight, and seemingly overnight. I started taking Metformin again last fall to stop the weight gain. After I started taking it again, I did quit gaining weight. I haven't lost much weight, and what I have lost was from calorie cutting. FYI for all you people out there trying to conceive, my heart goes out to you and I wish you the best. Metformin, Letrozole + Hcg trigger, and IUI worked for me.

We've been trying to conceive for the past 3 years. 3 failed IUIs 2 IVF transfers with one resulting in a miscarriage. I'm praying so hard our next transfer results in a Big Fat Positive. I love hearing about PCOS fertility success stories. It gives me so much hope.

For those of you TTC, I wish you luck. We did all the treatments too, up to 3 IVF attempts. Ultimately, I've never been pregnant but I have three amazing children through adoption and frankly, am SO GLAD that I never have to feel bad for passing on my horrible genes LOL.

That's awesome. We have one frozen emby left. If this cycle doesn't work, we are looking into adoption as well. Would love to ask you questions if you don't mind?