Loriann,
I was in the same situation as you.. and I was on metformin as well. I got to the point where I was hovering in the 180-187 lb range and despite exercise and smaller portions I was maybe getting to 178 lbs and rarely much lower. I even hired a personal trainer for a year 2x week and was running for 30 min 3x a week and STILL only ever got to 172lbs. I wasn't eating poorly either.
I was out of my mind frustrated and talked to my doctors about this. One of my doctors said, "You know.. there's a small segment of the population that can do everything right and still struggle with losing weight." I was mortified at the prospect that I might be one of these people. I'm not an emotional eater, I like to exercise, I work too much and I sleep too little. I started a pretty radical low calorie diet through Dr. Bernstein clinic and so far this is the only thing that has worked for me consistently. It's ridiculously expensive and stupidly low-cal, but supervised and I'm getting results and I will go on their maintenance program. I'm done with the weight - completely fed up.
The diet I'm on is basically this: no dairy (this was very hard for me), lean meats only (chicken breast, turkey breast, tuna, lean veal, white fish), no ground meats unless you grind them yourself from the above, a lot more vegetables (16 oz per day), limited starches (no potatoes, rice, carrots, beets, yellow beans, avocado), no oils (Pam only), no powdered sweetners (liquid or tablet form only). Very limited grains, 1 slice of Dempster's whole wheat bread or Dempster's bodywise bread per day, or 6 Triscuit thin crisps and 10 cheese nips (if you're craving cheese) per day.
The first 2 days were brutal - I had crazy headaches and was very fatigued as my body reacted to not having many of the carbs/starches I was used to.
Things I have learned and am learning that affected my weight:
1. I wasn't eating enough vegetables.
2. I was eating too much rice and other starches (I'd have 2/3 cup serving (cooked) per meal before)
3. I was consuming dairy and my body reacts like mad to that. I'd have 2 glasses of 1% milk per day (tops), used butter/margarine in seemingly small amounts, never thought a few slices of cheddar or creamier cheeses were a big deal (wake up call there)
3. I was eating the right amount of protein already
4. I didn't know salmon was actually something we should only eat once a week! The fats are good, but it's more fat than we need.
5. I wasn't drinking enough water. I was drinking coffee, juice, milk rather than water. All those things are gone from my diet now (decaf coffee occasionally however)
6. I wasn't sleeping enough. I didn't know this mattered to my metabolism, but it does
7. I drank beer. Any amount of this is no good for someone with PCOS. Any alcohol isn't great, but beer is especially bad. When I'm off this diet, I'm learning to drink vodka ..lol
I'm still on metformin and a month and a half into the Bernstein diet. I've dropped.. hm.. well over 20 lbs and I continue to row 2x/week. I should do more...and am working my jogging back into my schedule. Normally I'd be jogging as well but things have been crazy at work. No excuse, but there it is.
I don't recommend doing this diet the way I described on your own. It's really low calorie and if you're taking metformin they really need to monitor you to ensure your blood sugar doesn't go too low. Mine never has, but it's a concern.
POLL: Have you lost weight?
I look forward to life now. I am so happy and healthy.
