I was diagnosed with PCOS at a very young age of 13, and worked hard (ie didn't eat carbs/sugar/calories over 1100) all through highschool despite being an athlete, to keep my weight down.
When I hit 17, the weight started piling on. I worked 2 jobs on top of uni to provide for myself, I went from 54kg (120lbs) to 80kg(180?lbs) in less than a year. My PCOS symptoms got really bad, and I knew what I had to do to change that, but life always felt like it was worse on a diet.
I got married, moved away from my home city, and life goes on. Never managed to lose the weight, I just thought "this is where my body is comfortable at, I guess." I could eat whatever I wanted, as much or little, as low or high carb, it didn't matter. I never lost, I never gained. I just stayed a chubby little 5'3 girl. The only thing that made me lose weight was starving myself, literally.
I could weigh my food to the gram, count everything that went in, just like when I was a teenager. Except I only lost when I ate under 1000, under 40g of carbs and no sugar at all, even when I was out on Metformin to manage my insulin.
I couldn't live like that, so up until this year, I just simply didn't. Although I had acne, mood swings, fatigue, periods that lasted 4+ months on end, ovarian cysts, and crazy bursts of cravings from my out-of-control blood sugar levels, I just lived with it, it's how I was.
During lockdown, I lost my job and found myself feeling lost. Luckily we could survive on my husband's income, but I felt weird, like I should be doing something with my time. I decided it was time to make a change. Don't know why, just decided I was not going to show up after quarentine looking fat. It was a mix of wanting to feel "in control" and wanting to feel accomplished, not like the days were just wasting away.
I spent a solid week developing a meal plan, with macros, calories, and budgeting how much it would cost to eat this way, to manage my PCOS.
I determined with our budget, I could eat 100g of protein per day at 1400 calories. My husband has weights, so I decided to use them. I used to run, cycle, and do cardio to workout. I don't know why I decided to try weightlifting but wow... It's changed my life.
Since our first lockdown in early February, I have lost 18kg (40lbs) of pure body fat. I know it's body fat, because I can see visable muscles poking out of my arms, shoulders, and sometimes my legs when I'm pumped. I'm lifting over triple the weight than when I started, and honestly, that's not the best part.
My skins cleared up, my period went away and is about as regular as it can be with PCOS, and I haven't had a cyst since January. My moods been incredibly high, I have energy throughout the day. I can actually EAT food, my cravings have gone away for the most part, they aren't uncontrollable anymore, just "I could go for some takeaways", more like a passing thought than a fantasy!
I feel healthy and alive, I feel young and smiley. I didn't cut carbs or do keto, i changed my lifestyle. I make sure I get at least 20g of fibre and 100g of protein per day. I don't count calories as much as I used to, because I have a general ballpark idea of what things "cost" now. If I workout more, I eat a bit more.
Weightlifting is fun as heck, it gives you an adrenaline boost unlike cardio, getting a pump in your muscles is absolutely exhilarating, makes you feel like a warrior. Especially being back at the gym now. People around me are still lifting easily over 4x the weights I do, but I'm not self conscious about it because I'm way stronger than I used to be!
I'm not on Metformin anymore, I just take a regular Provera tablet, which most women with PCOS take,and it doesn't affect my mood or body like the metformin. When I hit my goal weight in about 10-12 more kg, I'll be eating about 1900-2100 calories, more if I'm working out.
I guess all I want, if you're still reading, is to give weight lifting a try. Set a realistic calorie budget, and actually sit down and figure out an eating regime that's affordable and doable, with things you like to eat. Don't starve yourself, and take it from me, you can feel so much better after a few months of steady weight-loss, muscle building, and healthy eating of foods that don't spike that blood sugar.
I'll also note I'm a vegetarian, so my inbox is open to anyone struggling to make budget friendly, high protein PCOS friendly meals xxx hope this inspires someone else to make a lifestyle change!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/ip7kz5/pcos_makes_it_easy_to_feel_frustrated_but_stay/
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