Hello hula808! I just wanted to comment that I'm also hypothyroid, insulin resistant AND have PCOS. Trifecta... :sad: Anyhoo, my doctor (who is diabetic herself) was pushing a low carb diet on me from day one. I wish I would have listened to her 2 years ago, but I just started the paleo diet.

My doctor's advice was to try the induction phase of the Atkins diet to kick the carb cravings... ooooh boy, I do love my refined carbs! There is a significant increase of protein intake, but honestly, you'll feel so much better. I would say give it a go for at least 30 days and see how you feel. I've been on paleo for a week, and my husband and I feel like we have more energy. Obviously, any weight we've lost so far is water weight, because carbohydrates tend to withhold lots of water with them.

I would suggest reading the Paleo Diet by Robb Wolf. He breaks things down well. It's really up to you, but 30 days will not cause any "damage" that you might be concerned about. Good luck! :drinker:

I dont have an official "diagnosis" of PCOS since the doctor I currently have is not very helpful. She did suggest to me that I try a "low carb diet." With no direction from my doctor I just started at 50g of carbs a day cuz that seemed VERY low to me at the time. I started to lose a little bit of weight (maybe 1-3lbs the first week). I did notice however that eating certain foods like yogurt w/sugar made me feel dizzy/pissy/or a mixture of tired and just feeling like general crap. I did this for about a month saw some weight loss (think 15 lbs)

Someone I know has kinda the same symptoms I do and suggested that I look into a Ketogenic diet or a Paleo diet and cut my carbs down to 20 g per day (also known as adkins induction phase) At first the thought of dropping carbs that low sounded like a "cult" diet and peeing Ketones sounded dangerous. I did about 50+ hours of research into this "fad" and found that its not harmful and for some people (myself included) Syndrom X symptoms are so severe that this is one of the only ways to lose weight. (Usually people thats metabolism is this bad are prime canidates for weight lose surgery no thanks!)

May 25 was my month mark of being on a Ketogenic diet. I lost 13lbs the first month and all the symptoms I had before are gone. I wont sugar coat it - the first two weeks I felt like general crap and wanted to eat a milk shake! but after the "flu" symptoms were done I have never felt so great in my life! The only difference between a Ketogenic diet/Paleo is that Keto allows you to consume cheese and dairy. My husband just started this diet last week and only suffered "flu" symptoms for 1-2 days max and he is feeling great. So I honestly believe that my metabolism is very screwed up and thats why I had so many more problems then "normal" people.

The basic thought behind the diets are that by removing the carbs from your diet you will force your body into a state of "ketosis" Which means you are burning the fat you consume/fat that is stored on your body for energy. The common belief is that you need carbs for energy which is true but you can also force your body into a state of Ketosis and use the fat on your body as energy and thats why you lose the weight.

I did a normal SAD for 8 months worked out at the gym for 5-6 times a week. Ate the way the PT and doctors told me and I lost NO weight. After 3 months of "doing it the right way" I was fed up with no results and decided that something drastic had to be done because I was gaining weight instead of loosing it! Many people (including my doctor) are against the Keto diet because they believe you cant stay on the diet long term. However I have found that because of the problems I have it is easy for me to stick with the diet and continue to eat this way because I dont feel like general crap all day long

I hope this is helpful!