PCOS Diet suggestions

Hi everyone, I just joined calorie-count.com yesterday. And my first day of calorie counting was a success.

But today, I read an article online and now strongly suspect that I have PCOS (will confirm with my doctor next week).

Can someone here suggest some diet rountine especially fit for PCOS? I've heard low carb and high protein, but what foods in particular should I eat, what in particular should I avoid? I want to not only cut my calories but also cut the right kind of carbs and stuff to get my body back to healthy and normal.

much thanks.

Is a high protein diet good for helping with PCOS? If so, what is a good amount? This week I am at 30% protein of my 1200 calories per day.

I have it, too, as well as type 2 diabetes.  I'm on glucophage.  I can't tell whether it's helped, as I haven't really gotten my period with any regularity (I've been in it for four months now and I've only gotten my period once or twice).  I too suffer from the facial hair...it's probably the most annoying part of it.  Having PCOS hasn't hindered my weight loss (I'm not really sure if the glucophage is helping or not but it's certainly not hurting) at all, which is really the only positive thing about it.  lol

Hi highway, sadly i have used metformin in the past, a few years ago and it made me very poorly within a week of starting it. At first i tried to put up with the bouts of sickness and erm lets say bowel urgency but after a few weeks i couldnt function properly and was too afraid to leave the home because of the side effects ot caused with me.

So sadly I had to be taken off it before it had a chance to show any signs of improvement for me.

However, im very glad it works for you. :o)

I have PCOS and can lose weight by calorie counting.  I also take metformin and have cycles like clockwork now.  I'm not diabetic thus far though.  I have 4 children from IVF.

As far as what to eat, my name was mentioned in the 2'nd post and my PCOS diet is in my profile.  I don't really eat high protein, more high vegetable.  I always called it the rabbit food diet.  But it works and I don't get hungry, plus I can fit in the carbs I really care about and cut out the stupid ones (like 4 pieces of bread with dinner when one is plenty.)

I think that treating PCOS is well worth it.  For one, it's supposed to minimize the chances of actually developing diabetes, not just from weight loss but from the metformin helping your body process insulin better.  So far I've been on metformin for 7 years except for during one pregancy and don't have diabets.  I have developed some annoying facial hair issues and wonder if it's because I only take 2 metformin per day.  I wanted to mention that.  Two per day don't cause the bowel side effects for me.  When I tried to go to 3 this time around I couldn't do it.  However, when I first started treatment I did take 3, so I'm debating trying again to get there.  But for those who went off of it due to the bowel issues, try just taking two, or even one if need be.  Plus ramp up slowly starting at one per day and adding one every 3 to 7 days, and take it after meals, that's supposed to help.

Good luck!

pcos and i take byetta--- so far its not doing a whole lot for me.  i dont want to eat when i take it and then go way under on cals and what i do eat ends up sitting in my system forever...

im trying to do 40% carbs--- thats what i read online to rec'd for pcos.  the first week went well until i started going out to eat and then... well i have just been eating since then.

im the most worried about the fertility issues.  im going to give the byetta one more month (oh so expensive!) and then go to met if it doesnt start to work.

good luck!

hey all i only just found this site ,what i have seen so far i like .

well i have been diagnosed with pcos for like 9 years now ,and i have to be honest I'm still really struggling with it all ,i got put on metformin and currently on my 3rd year of them i have 1500mg a day and I'm sick and or need the toilet a lot unfortunately i'm still waiting for the benefits even though i keep persevering ,i have none existent periods 1 a year if i'm lucky i really want a baby and have been trying for about 8 years i have had 2 ivf attempts plus 2 iui attempts which both ended with upset  luckily they gave me one more go to do which i'm trying to get my bmi in check with to be able to start it i just worry and feel down  a lot ,i also have the face and body hair which is quite bad to say the least i  think its so embarrassing i get so paranoid about it as i have to shave as its the only way i get rashes and all sorts and i know it sounds like i'm taking the mick but i get what i call face ache lol  i'm on tablets for that as well although i wouldn't know it they called spirolactone and also I'm on a thyroid tablet as i got a very under active thyroid which it took them about 4 years to find out so I'm on  some medication .I'm still really hoping for a miracle cure i know I'm living  in a dream world ,its nice to know I'm not alone ,I'm so glad i found this site by pure chance really ,I'm very lucky as i do have a loving husband who really tries to support and understand ,even though i know some things go over his head ,so I'm very blessed in that respect ,the thing I'm struggling with at the moment is the shaving rashes i have to shave every day and it getting pretty red raw i bought a really decent razor but not really making much difference ,so i was wondering if anyone has any tips for the rash as I'm fed up of  hiding my face in my coat lol anyway there s my little story well maybe not so little  i look forward from hearing from you all and hope that i know the answers to some of your questions so i can give you some good tips back here's one too leave you with did you know with pcos you get quite dehydrated without realizing it so  here's  what you should do Eat cucumber each day. It is a natural diuretic and stops fluid building up in the body. This is important if your work involves a lot of sitting. also i will tell you about this other site i have found and get a lot of tips off which are really good http://www.vitaline-slimming.com/pcos/index.p hp     it may be worth a little look for some of you .

HI LEANNI,I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH.MY LIFE SEEMS SO UNFAIR.I AM SO TIRED OF ALL THESE PEOPLE AROUND ME HAVING BABIES,AND ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO FUSS BECAUSE THEY ONLY HAVE ONE HAIR THEY NEED TO PLUCK OUT ON THERE FACE WHEN I AM SHAVING MY MANLY FACE EVERY DAY.NOMATTER WHAT I DO I CAN'T LOOSE THE WEIGHT,I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET PREGNANT FOR 9 YEARS.

   MY DOCTOR JUST PUT ME ON METFORMIN ABOUT 3 WEAKS AGO AND SOME OF THE FACIAL HAIR HAS THINNED A LITTLE BUT NOT MUCH. I AM ONLY TAKING 500MG TWICE A DAY THOUGH,SOME WOMEN ARE TAKING 850 MG THREE TIMES A DAY.

   I KNOW ALL ABOUT YOUR FANTACY WORLD BECAUSE I LIVE THERE TOO.SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T GET IT. AS A WOMAN I FEEL LIKE I WAS SUPPOSE TO HAVE KIDS THATS WHAT WE WERE PUT ON EARTH TO DO AND THAT RIGHT HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND YOU AND ALL THE OTHERS LIKE US,IT'S JUST NOT FAIR AT ALL.AS EXPENSIVE AS ADOPTION IS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ADOPT UNLESS YOUR RICH I JUST DON'T GET.

   I WISH YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD AND MAYBE THEY WILL FIND THAT MIRACLE DRUG FOR, US WHO KNOWS?

    WELL IT WAS NICE GETTING ALL THIS OFF MY CHEST,UNTILL NEXTIME BYEBYE.

hi csharp it was nice reading your reply i'm glad to find people who are in exactly same boat as me  i hope you found some use full stuff of that site i recommended  and look forward for sharing use full stuff with you all .

I was diagnosed with PCOS 23 years ago but thought it was a fertility problem only.  Boy was I wrong.  Now I'm dealing with the weight, hair and adult acne...yuk.  I'm not too great at this computer stuff but I'd like to hear from others my age who are dealing with these issues.  Oh yes, I have twins who are 21 and a third child who is 20.  The infertility was handled in the  old-fashioned way with a wedge resection.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 1999 and the best diet that i was on was no sugar (stay away from sweets and white bread) whole grain, veggies and fruit and high protein (like the weight watchers diet) was the best diet i was ever on back in the day. 


Clarice

Original Post by starpackmom:

I was diagnosed with PCOS 23 years ago but thought it was a fertility problem only.  Boy was I wrong.  Now I'm dealing with the weight, hair and adult acne...yuk.  I'm not too great at this computer stuff but I'd like to hear from others my age who are dealing with these issues.  Oh yes, I have twins who are 21 and a third child who is 20.  The infertility was handled in the  old-fashioned way with a wedge resection.

I'm in my mid 40's and was just diagnosed with PCOS.  I've had a history of infertility for decades and chronic cysts.  Never was able to have kids and just had a hysterectomy because of massive HUGE fibroids.  I'm now dealing with the weight, facial hair and adult acne like you with PCOS.  I asked my doctor to put me on Metformin and she refused.  I said it would probably help with my excess hair growth, weight loss and my high cholesterol levels.  She said it would not help any of that and Metformin is only for diabetics (I have pre-diabetes but not full blown diabetes) and for women with PCOS who are trying to get pregnant so she refused to give me Metformin.  She told me that my PCOS and all my symptoms like the excess facial hair and acne would go away if I would just lose weight.  I told her I've been trying to lose weight for ages now and no matter what I try (even low carb diet and exercise) does not help and the scale won't budge one little ounce.  I also am hypothyroid and on medication for that.  My recent blood work said my thyroid was in the correct range, yet I still can't seem to lose weight.  I'm so frustrated.  My doctor made it sound like I have caused my PCOS because I let myself go.  Well, I didn't let myself go.  I was 110 pounds and a size 3 until I started having medical problems (that went undiagnosed for way too long) and the weight packed on rapidly without changing my eating habits or exercise routine.  It's the PCOS and hypothyroidism that made me fat, not the fat that gave me PCOS and hypothyroidism, yet my doctor won't believe me.  If it weren't for financial reasons, I'd go to another doctor.  I'm on MSI (a type of medical welfare for low income people in my area who have no medical insurance) and I have to go to the doctor MSI assigns me.

Anyway, like you, I'm "of a certain age" and having to deal with all the PCOS stuff.

Has anyone tried this PCOS diet and hypnosis combination? http://www.pcosdiet.org

Its amazing how many women have PCOS. I'm 26 and was diagnosed 2 months ago with it. Dont have any of the unwanted hair or acne, but i do have the infertility and weight gain (though I think the weight gain was also my own doing- a whole bag of chips in one sitting will do that to you =P ). Soulcysters was mentioned earlier and it's truly a great source of information.

I'm so glad there's so much support on this site. Thank you all for being open and contributing, it's amazingly helpful to girls like me just starting to deal with PCOS, as well as weight loss.

OK. Let me tell you what worked for me and the weight just melted off of me. I reversed PCOS and got pregnant (was not intending this part lol).

I over a 2 week period ate ONLY 1/2 a toasted whole wheat extra fiber englishmuffine spread with omega 3 added sugar free peanut butter thatI sweetened with splenda and a cup of coffee witih splends and sugar free creamer.  If I was starved a few hours later Iate the other 1/2 of the english muffin with the peanutbutter.  At lunch I made a huge omega 3 enriched omelettte, filled with spinach and seasonings and a little cheese.  I made enough of this that Irefirgerated the other half of the omellete and used it to make a cold salad at dinner on top of a bed of raw spinach seasoned with no carbsald dressing that was no sugar (high fat but that is ok if you arent' putting undhealthy carbs in your body...the unhealthy carbs move the fat into your arteries....the fiberous carbs wisk the fat out of your body through your waste).

I ate like this for two weeks and every time I craved a bad yucky white bread carb i would eat a bite or have hte whole darn 1/2 of that double fiber whole wheat english muffin with sugar free peanut butter with added omega threes and splenda to my taste. By the ened of week 2 I no longer had cravings, I was not starved anymore, my metablolism was stabalizing and I had energy for the first time in years!  AND nI had lost 15 pounds!!! 

THat was the encourager Ineeded to see how my body obvioulsy had been poinsoned withPCOS and my eating white carbs and sugar. Just by removing these things from my diet th emelt began to melt off.

I now added an exercize routine of lowwwww impact aerobics and leg lifts and arm lifts usingn my 16ounce water bottles. . . at home. The weight continued to melt off of me and I began to eat for dinner insttead of the other half of the omelette Iate protein and veggies and I could switch it out. Like steak and spinach, pork chops and spinach, chicken anad spinach, Salmon and spinach. Just no unhealthy carbs, My energy was soaring and I averaged 20 to 22 pounds a month of weight loss over 6 months. I went from a pair of pants that fit me barely to at the end of 6 months me, and my 7 year old an dmy 9 year old could fit inside my old pants.

Now here's the kicker. I got pregnant and the stupid nutritionist at the octor freaked i wasnt eating enough carbs so she relaly guilted me into eating more bread and even though I was eating more than my english muffin a day I knew this was a mistake for my body with PCOS. I had seen what a normal amount of carbs had done to my body with my pcos through the years and by limiting my carb to just the english muffin in the morning my body had healed itself. Well,now Iam gestatioinal diabeteic and back to eating the way I was eatingn prior to conceiving...so the lesson I learned here is this: trust yourself, youknow your body, you can figure out how to eat to make your body function optimally, and dont listen to a total stranger who 'thinks' they know your body and your story and your journey with PCOS. WE are alla littledifferenct with this disease. I found an eating plan that worked for me. It was a result of a lot of reading online about PCOS DIET and then reading about ATKINS and SOuth Beach for PCOS .  Good luck. I am8 months pregnant and back on my original diet again. I should have never listened to that lady who guilted me into believing I needed more carbs in my pregnant diet. Here's a thought. Why not supplement with vitamins and minerals more if you can't break down carbs effectively due to insulin resistance(PCOS)? Especially during pregnancy this way you dont throw us into fullblown PCOS while pregnant.

 

I lost 120 pounds following the above routine. Good luck to everyone on the journey to heal!

 

 

Hey

I jus joined this site last night.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2006 when I went to the doctor because I didn't get my period for straight 2 months.

Then I wasnt so serious. But beginning this year I became bi-monthly and now I havent had them for 3 months.... Don't know what is happening.

I also have weight gain and hair problems.

Please help me friends... I wanna lose weight but nothing seems to be working. I drink alot of water all day.... 

Any ideas?

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 13 and at a weight of 215. 

The best thing for PCOS is exercise, hands down. Increase it and you will see huge results. 

I am 25 years old and I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19 and was told I probably wouldn't have any children. Well as I am typing this I am looking at my 7.5 month old little girl's picture I took two weeks ago. It is a long trek when you have PCOS your weight will fluctate and so will your hormones. In  december of 2003 I was 223 lbs I never looked it, but that was what I was. I starting working a job in the summer of 2004 which required me to walk alot and with the combination of Glucophage (because I had extremely high insulin levels, not for diabetes), Aldactone(to help balance my hormones) and birth control (to help regulate my periods) I eventually went down to a 160 within 5 months. Now I told my doctor I know that 160 is perfect for my height but I allowed my self to gain 19 lbs so I would feel so insecure because I was dropping weight like a crack addict, I like being curvy. My doctor told me that was fine as long as I didn't gain more. I got married in December 2007 still weighing in at 179 and I got pregnant three months later only taking prenatals (despite being told I would have to  take infertility medicine which my husband refused) and I only gain 18 lbs while I was pregnant ( because I lost so much weight from all the vomiting I did through my entire pregnacy). Now the sad thing is my hormones never returned to normal after my pregnancy causing me to gain drastic amount of weight. I am now 220 lbs again. My mom who is a nurse suggests that I excersise ( try aerobics three to five days a week) and start a low glycemic diet. This is the best natural way for woman with PCOS. Because PCOS has so many different symptoms and every woman might not have the same ones the doctor will do a blood test on you to see what medicine best suits you if the natural weigh does not work first. Stay encourage and try to find others with the same condition to have a support system for yourself. Look up the diabetic diet or low glycemic diet. I love the diet and my husband wants to do it with me because you can still eat the same foods just not as much carbohydrates(simple ones that is).