PCOS is a POS

[holyshitcandybar]

I am a 26-year-old pre-veterinary student.  I am also a hopeless geek with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and creative expression.  I am used to succeeding in everything that I try, and so I am very discouraged in my weight loss venture.

 

I have been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome.  I don't lose weight like a normal human being.  And I gain weight rapidly, and sometimes seemingly for no reason.  I hate it so much.  I have worked seven days a week, one hour a day, for six months (concurrent with healthy diet), only to lose two pounds.

 

I am desperate now to lose more weight, primarily for health concerns (genetic predisposition to stroke and diabetes, along with increased risk of both of those things from the PCOS), but struggle with motivation due to lack of success.  I am 5'3" and weigh 165 pounds.  My goal weight is 115.  

 

I am limited in what I can do.  I have severe balance problems due to a neurological condition and ankle surgery.  I also have severe plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.  Asthma, too.

 

I feel that I am in need of an accountability partner.  My husband isn't supportive and is quite possibly lazier than I am.  I think he might be enabling my fatness so that he feels better about his own weight, or maybe because he thinks I will leave him if I become thin.  I don't know.  I can't get into his psyche and he won't really communicate on the matter.

[Basement Cat]

Welcome to the rebellion!

 

I'm sorry that your husband is not onboard with your quest. You'll find lots of people to help you with accountability. You say you have been eating healthy: how so? Diet is something that often needs tinkering and adjustment to find a working combination. I think we have other people with this syndrome here on NF. Try posting a topic asking about that in the Help! I'm new to fitness and have questions forum. There should be people in a similar situation able to provide advice and/or help.

 

As for workouts, what kind are you doing? Cardio? Weight? Interval? Maybe a change would be beneficial.

 

The most important thing is to hang in there. Take it slow, take it steady, and don't let your husband discourage you. The NF community is here for you!

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[holyshitcandybar]

At the time of healthy diet and exercise, I was completely adhering to the eat to live diet plan (I wasn't about to go paleo because I have been vegetarian since I was 8).  I lost 17 pounds within the first 2 months, and that was when I hit the plateau of all plateaus.

 

Basically I was only eating things from plant sources that weren't processed.  No processed oils or fats.  No dairy or eggs.  My complex carbs were all in the form of whole grains, and even then it was one serving a day (generally oatmeal or some brown rice).  I ate no less than four servings of fresh fruit a day.  I ate two gigantic salads with homemade salad dressings.  I supplemented the rest of my calories (up to 1500 a day) with legumes.  I also avoided whole wheat because I suspected a gluten allergy and noticed that my headaches went away as well as all of my seasonal allergies and migraines.  I even stopped drinking completely.  

 

It was an enormous amount of food and I never felt hungry.  I was spin biking every day for an hour a day.  I dropped crazy amounts of weight at first, and then my plateau came.  Several weeks went by and nothing happened, so I cut back on spin biking to every other day (an hour at a time), interspersed with weight training on my off days for about 45 minutes a day.  I had practically zero results.  I felt myself getting stronger and gaining muscle, but the fat just didn't budge.

 

I got depressed then.  Terribly depressed.  After about six months of it, I finally gave up and went back to my usual ways.  I gained very little of it back (just a few pounds), luckily, but I have obviously not lost anything (except, presumably, muscle).

[Basement Cat]

So, basically a vegan diet? Or were you eating meat as well?

 

Mmh, in any case you might want to check the nutrition forum and give as many details about your diet as you can. Maybe you were eating too many grains. It's easy to pack on weight with grain. Fruit contains a lot of sugar, and four servings might have been too much for you.

 

Try upping the veggie ratio to everything else. See how that works for you. Make a switch, try it for a month and see what it does. Don't give up, you'll figure it out!

[proVoke]

hi there

 

so im in a very similar situation as you, i was diagnosed with PCOS last year and since then have gained weight at a crazy speed.

i know you said you werent wanting o go paleo because you were vegetarian but i will just share my experience and how i am finally getting a grip on the PCOS.

 

i tried every diet in the book and have also been weight lifting for about four months now. my body shape changed and i was losing a few centimeters but i would just have one cheat day and put all the weight and centimeters back on because the PCOS makes it so hard to manage ur weight.

 

ive gone paleo now since the 7th of Jan and have lost 3.3kgs. i try not cheat at all and if i do i have a paleo treat like coconut cream ice cream. but i limit this to a treat a week. ive also stopped eating fruit and thats where i think im getting the most results. before i went paleo i ate super healthy but ate loads of fruit and drank gallons of fruit juice and as SilverRapier said you have to be careful with your fruit. i now have fruit as a treat too.

so basically if u arent wanting to go paleo then i would recommend monitoring your fruit and grain intake coz those little things sneak up on you.

 

Its also important that you enjoy your diet, i can honestly say i love paleo and i dont miss normal processed junk at all so while im eating like this i dont feel deprived. coz if you feel deprived you cheat way more! there are also great paleo substitutes for when you are craving something like bread (which is my one weakness)

[holyshitcandybar]

I don't think that my problem was too many grains.  It was only one serving a day (1 cup cooked oatmeal, half cup cooked brown rice).  I also don't think that it was too much fruit because of how much weight I lost at first.  I don't like sweet things, and it became very difficult for me to get that amount of fruit into my body.  When I managed eat four servings of fruit a day, I had more energy than I've ever had in my life.  My blood sugar remained steady for the first time ever.  I usually had reactive hypoglycemia, and the fruit seemed to help considerably.  I don't drink fruit in the form of juice though because it strips the fiber from the fruit.

 

I won't go paleo, no matter what.  I liked the eat to live diet for the most part, but it was stressful how many dishes it generated.  I was spending two hours a night washing dishes.  o.O

 

I might try cutting back on the fruit.  In fact, I very well might enjoy it since I don't like sweet things.  XD