Weight Loss and PCOS

Hi, my daughter was recently diagnosed with PCOS and also she is insulin resistant and hypoglycemic. As well as my daughter, one of my friends also has PCOS. The doctors dealing with my daughter said that the best thing for her is to cut down on the carbs. We have cut out all regular soda and only drink diet, and cut back on the carbs in other foods. Watch the labels carefully, carbs are everywhere, I didn't realize how many places. Just by modifying her diet, and adding a little more exercise, she has been able to lose about 10 pounds in about 4 weeks.

That's great that you are eating a healthy vegetarian diet. Here are a couple sites that may be of some help.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/pregnancy.html
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/faqs.shtml

Weight watchers is working for me so far. I'm not vegetarian, but eat healthy. Weight watchers has helped me be much more aware of what/when I eat and my portion sizes. I lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks w/o much of a change to my daily routine.

Talk to your docotor. Some people with PCOS do well on a diabetic diet. He may refer you to a nutriotionist or you could ask him about beggining one and go search on line at reputable source for info

C.-

When trying to conceive my 1st child (now 3 years old), the dr. diagnosed me with PCOS. At the same time, I was also trying to lose about 20 pounds and the South Beach diet was very popular at the time. I was reading the South Beach diet book one day, and in it there was an actual excerpt about a woman who had PCOS, went on the diet, and then had success. It is all about cutting the sugars out (as people said before like a "diabetic diet"). I had been trying for about 8 months, went on the South Beach diet and was successful about 3 months later and had lost some weight - very successful in my opinion. I dont find that South Beach is good for long term weight loss in general (I would recommend Weight Wathcers for that). But, for the PCOS "treatment" I would absolutely try to follow a South Beach type of plan and cut the carbs and sugar. Worked for me. And I wish you much success too!

There's a great book that helped me with my PCOS. I lost 30 lbs. A Patient's Guide to PCOS by Walter Futterweit, M.D. It has diet tips, exercise tips (sometimes changing your routine will help a lot) and meal plans. It has a huge section on trying to get pregnant.

Hi C.,
My husband and I did a full body cleanse to jump start metabolism, get rid of built up toxins in our bodies, etc. Several of our friends from church did the same thing. You should see all of these thin, healthy people walking around!! The goal of this program is not to lose weight, however, if that's an issue, you will most likely lost weight and keep it off with a healthy lifestyle and exercise program. The program is called Master Cleanse, otherwise known as the Lemonade Diet. It's very intense and requires some fasting, however, if you're serious about your health and overall well being, this ten day commitment might be just what you need. You can check it out online. Tons of youtube entries, websites for support, etc. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you!
M.

Hi C.,

We have a lot in common. I am also 27 with PCOS. We just had our first baby 6 months ago. When I first found out about the PCOS I started following a diabetic diet to loose the weight which it sounds like you've already adopted. It did help my blood sugar and I lost 30 lbs but it didn't help the PCOS to much. Of course the pregnancy in there added a challenge where I put the 30 lbs back on and had to loose it again. Now that I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight I'd still like to loose another 20-30 lbs but my body has stalled.

The only thing I can suggest is my doctor. I was seeing Dr. Legro with Hershey Med. He is a very well known PCOS specialist. It sounds like you were able to get pregnant but had trouble carrying where my problem was the opposite. I never got my periods but once I did I got pregnant and the pregnancy went smoothly. Perhaps you could get in with him and he could help with making sure your hormones are all at the propper levels to get and remain pregnant.

One thing he did tell me in my first trimester was that I had to stop my diabetic type diet because the baby and my body needed so many carbs at first. He said I needed to eat lots of carbs and sugars at first and then could adopt my old diet back once I entered the second trimester.

I hope this helps a little,

C.

Hi C.

I wish I new about this Nutritional Cleanse and Fat Burning System that I started last Aug when I had my last baby. The fat and inches melt off all over and your energy comes back. Since you seem health conscious, this program is NOT a colon cleanse, it cleanses toxins and impurities from your system gently at the cellular level and the quick weight loss is a side benefit. Our bodies hold on to extra fat and fluid to protect itself from toxins in our environment and processed foods, etc. Please check out www.cleansedforlife.com and email or call me and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

I lost 8 lbs and 13.5 inches in only 11 days and my husband 13 lbs. We both feel great! My kids are 7 and 5 and everyone that has tried this program has gotten excellent results and feels great! I learned about it thru a personal trainer friend and I keep in touch with a woman who is a clinical nutritionist and coach for the program. I hope you will check it out and call me. I know you will be glad you did. I was glad I tried it and I am still on the maintenance. The website above will give you a 5 minute overview of the entire program.

Call me at ###-###-#### or ____@____.com. I wish you well, F.

Hi C.~
I hope that you will be blessed with the baby that you and Ed are hoping for. For healthy weight loss, the company I work with has some yummy options. There are bars (chocolate caramel nut, chocolate peanut butter, sweet and salty nut) and shakes (milk chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) that block cravings. We also have energy bars in 5 flavors and drinks in dark or milk chocolate, which are patented to turn fat into fuel when you eat them 15 min. before exercising. I would love to show you!
~C.
www.livetotalwellness.com/workathomemommy
I'll get back to you right away when you enter your contact info. on my website, and let you know how you can get $100 of free products.

I have to second the recommendation of a diabetic diet. All I did after I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes was cut my carbohydrates and do a little walking, and I lost 35 pounds!

I do, however, recommend that you talk to your doctor about your concerns. He may be able to recommend a good dietician to help.

Has your doctor given you any options? A good friend had severe pcos and despite eating healthily and going to the gym her weight remained the same as well. Her doctor eventually put her on meds that regulated her hormones and allowed some weight loss. It was good to see her hard work pay off once she got going. Good Luck.

Hi C., I have never had the problem you have as far as getting pregnant but I did have trouble with my weight. I recomend Weight Watchers. It is a wonderful program and works. I went to WW in Jan. of 05 and lost 31 pounds by June of 05. I now work for them and have watched so many ladies and MEN loose alot of weight. I cant go into details with you but as long as you follow the program you will loose. Good luck to you in what ever you choose to do.

sounds to me like you do alot of right things..maybe you should have your dr check your thyroid and hormone levels...

Hi C.! Keep up the good work. I don't have PCOS but I've had super high cholesterol and blood pressure. I wasn't overweight but in the high range for my height. My doctor told me I would always need cholesterol medicine because it was hereditary. I told him he was wrong. And he was - I've gotten my cholesterol down to normal ranges. I've lost 20 pounds since going vegetarian. I don't eat (at least try not to eat) processed foods - including anything with white sugar, white flour. Be careful on your whole wheat bread. If it says enriched then it's not really whole wheat. It should feel really heavy. I also try to limit my grains. Although brown rice and whole wheat bread are healthy - I can tell I feel somewhat bloated when I eat it. I just try to eat as many raw veggies as possible. And I try to eat a lot of fiber. I buy an organic cereal called Smart Bran Psyllium and Oat Bran - lot's of fiber. I don't drink any soda - not even diet. There's lots of nasty chemicals in diet soda. I just drink water all day long. There's two good books I really like on being vegetarian - "Skinny Bitch" and "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Caldwell Essylstyn, MD. Good luck!! It sounds like you are on the right path.
K.

C.,

Your situation sounds so similar to mine. I also have PCOS and spent many years trying to get pregnant. The best diet for those with PCOS, especially if you are insulin resistant would be a low-carb diet like Atkins or South Beach. I can tell you first hand that I truly believe the diet helped me get pregnant. I had a miscarriage early on in trying to get pregnant and then went on to several years of fertility treatments - clomid, injections and ultimately was getting ready to do In-vitro. I was planning on trying to lose some weight before doing the In-vitro just to get healthier and went on a strict Atkins diet the summer of 2005, I lost a good amount of weight and was feeling really good. I had planned to do In-vitro in Dec and ended up finding out I was pregnant in October on my own!! I was completely shocked and I wondered if it had anything to do with the diet. Then I also realized, that the first time I had gotten pregnant I was ALSO doing Atkins during that time, but I never really made the connection. I can't say for sure that's what did it, but I do believe the diet is very good for those with PCOS and I can't help but believe it helped me get pregnant. Especially, since it was many years on all these medications and nothing helped, but I was just eating normally at that point. Whether that was the cause, I'm not sure, but we're thinking of trying again and I am back on the Atkins diet. I would definitely recommend a low-carb diet for your condition. If you want to ask me anything else, feel free to email.

Hi C.,

I also have PCOS and thought I would have a hard time getting pregnant (I've heard that PCOS is the number one cause of infertility in women), but I didn't!

For reasons other than trying to conceive, I hadn't had any refined sugar or alcohol for six months. On the night I happened to conceive, (I wasn't trying to get pregnant), I was extremely relaxed, drinking a cocktail and then having a couple of glasses of wine with dinner for the first time in the six months, and I had eaten a delicious meal chock full of minerals -- "frutti di mare" at a fine Italian restaurant. This is the closest thing to a "recipe" I could recommend for conceiving -- it worked like a charm!

The reason I had been avoiding refined sugar and alcohol was that I had read Dr. Sear's book, The Zone, and was very impressed by his theory of health through the stabilization of blood sugar. In retrospect, I think keeping my blood sugar stablized caused my PCOS to move out of the way, and voila!

Exercise is perhaps the best way to stabilize your blood sugar (it increases insulin uptake in the cells), so it's great that you're doing that. Good luck!

C.,

I had to start exercising for health reasons and the weight just starting coming off. Even though you are a vegetarian, you may be eating some "fatty" foods, so keep your fat intake to less than 30 grams/day. Also, even though you go to the gym, walking every day is excellent and if you have a little one, he can go on the walks with you. I took my son, who's 8, with me for the walks a couple of times and once had had just rained, so we jumped in every puddle along the way.

Good Luck,

R. B.

Try Weight Watchers. It really works.

C.- The first thing you should do if you haven't already is talk to a trainer at your gym. Most gyms when you sign up give you so many sessions for free. The next thing is try eating six small meals a day. So you should be eatting every 2-3 hours and drink alot of water. Make sure that you are doing cardio as well as strengh training. Even if you use light weights it is better than not doing anything at all. There is a book that is called Body for Life that helped me loose my baby weight after my 2nd child. Good luck

C.!

you can totally do this!

my first advice is to not push it. don't set a deadline, eg: must be 40lbs lighter in 3 months. fast is just as unhealthy as carrying the extra weight.

aim for a pound a week. it's the healthiest way and the easiest way for it to stay off.

with PCOS your insulin is off as well, so your cells eat up the sugars and store fat moreso than if you didn't have PCOS. with this challenge you might want to shoot for 30lbs instead of the full 40, or maybe even 20. you also should discuss this with your doc, as s/he might have some drug options for you that would help - maybe you're on metformin already, but if not it's worth a dicussion.

i lost 40lbs - a little more than 1lb a week- this way:
a) multivitamin. a one-a-day burns 500 extra calories a week.

b) 30-45 minutes of cardio a day. at first i did every other day, and then i loved it so much i bumped it up to 6 days a week. in my experience it's best to plan your 45 minutes FIRST each day. not first thing, but of all the things you have to do, make the time for the workout and then plan everything else around it. it's the one thing you are doing for YOU. and you deserve that time 100%

c) do a workout you like! if running on the treadmill sucks, dont' do it! a brisk walk outside in the neighbourhood is just as good, if you like that better. an aerobics class at the gym (i like those b/c you have someone telling you what to do for an hour and boom you're done, plus there is daycare for Tommy)

d) being a vegetarian sounds like you have a decent diet, but even so, think about what you are eating. to maximize your efforts, eat smaller meals, more times a day. 5 meals, less than 4-500 calories a meal. bowl o' cereal here, tuna sandwich there, if you need a calorie list, there are dozens online. your gym might also have one! tells you how many calories are in what. i keep clif bars handy - they're vegan.

e) free weights. turns out building muscle acutally burns more calories longer than the cardio. just slower. grab a couple 5lb or 8lb weights and look online for an upper body workout, and then lunge lunge lunge. :) or again, the gym.

the only thing you need to do is be confident that you CAN do this.

best of luck to you!!
C.

Hi C.! I just wanted to say keep it up. It seems like you are doing everything right it just needs time. The chances of you getting pregnant while stressed are lower than if you wasn't TTC. Try to chill out and relax and you will be pregnant when your time is right. Are you taking prenatals? I know the local health food store carries a couple different brands of natural prenatals. Even ones for vegetarians. Goodluck!

My friend treats this "holistically" and has had great success in helping her patients get pregnant along with weight loss espec. after they've really tried every conventional treatment possible. They always seem to see her LAST and she is the only one that helps them!
Her website is www.holisticfamilyhealthcarepc.com , you should check it out! hth!!

Hi C.,
I know you will get lots of responses with weightloss suggestions. It sounds like you are eating right and excersize.
Check this weightloss program out by Shaklee www.cinchplan.com/goodhealthconcepts This program is soy-based , therefore great for vegetarians, very safe. Shaklee has been around for 50 years and is the # 1 nutritional company in the USA. Shaklee has a great safety record.They never had a recall on any of their products. They do clinicals on all their products, and this program has been very successful for many people.
Let me know if you have any questions.
I also have info on PCOS, if you would like to approach this the natural way..
Good Luck,

Michelle

Hello, C.. It is great that you are avoiding hydrogenated oils. Nevertheless, I think you need to increase the fat in your diet. It just really matters what kind of fat to use. Try to find some butter. The best kind is from cows that have been grazing outside, not stuck in a barn, and organic. It will seem expensive, but will satisfy you so, that you can lose weight while eating it. Your baby's brain needs cholesterol to develop. Another good fat is coconut oil, preferably virgin cold-pressed. A third, extra-virgin, cold-pressed organic olive oil. Your body will thank you for not letting it feel starved. Good luck D. E

Hello,
My niece had the exact same problem. She had a baby at 18 and then tried to have another for 10 years. What finally worked for her was taking both Glucophage (a blood sugar medicine), and Clomid. She now has two more children.

Give Shaklee's weight loss plan a try. It worked great for me. If you'd like to take a look at it go to www.cinchplan.com/dudinyak. It preserves your muscle and helps you to loose the pounds and the inches. I have had better success with it than any other diet. Good luck to you.

Dear C.,
I can't speak from experience about PCOS, but I CAN speak from experience about weight loss. You're already doing the right things by exercising and eating right. If you've staller there are a couple of things to consider - 1) kick your workouts up a notch or change what you're doing. Your body adjusts to what you're doing, so if you're in a routine with exercise, now might be the time to try something new, or even just rearrange the order in which you do your exercises. 2) Since you're not pregnant yet, try a fast or a mini-fast. A lot of progams encourage a two-day fast, where you substitute meals for fresh-squeezed fruit or vegetable juice. Personally, that was a little extreme for me, do I modified it. I substitute no more than two meals a day with juice when I fast. Also, be sure you're drinking lots of water. 3) See your doctor to make sure that there's not a physiological reason your weight loss has plateaued. I'll be praying for you. Feel free to e-mail. I have a 5 yr old son, and my daughter just turned 1, and I have about 40 pounds left to lose also. Also, right now Curves and Avon have teamed up to do a "study". You pay $30 to go three times a week for four weeks. Don't know if that's something that interests you or not since you already go to the gym four X's a week.

Hi cherie,

I am in a business called isagenix which is an organic product to lose weight and keep it off. It takes the toxins out of your fat cells which helps you lose the weight.

You can check it out online-www.danablazo.isagenix.com. My contact info is on there to discuss the product. Also, its easy to get your product at wholesale and for free.

good luck
D.