New to this...anyone treated PCOS with diet alone?
 

Hello! I am new to this and am glad I have found this forum. I hope I am doing everything right. I have been suspicious of PCOS for a long time because of my inability to lose weight and my extremely easy ability of putting it on. I also have many of the other classic symptoms. I finally went to the Dr when I joined WW and gained weight after following the plan and exercising for 2 months. I was diagnosed with PCOS in April and told to try diet and exercise to control it before going on metformin. At the time I was not having too hug a problem with my periods. I was getting one about every 1.5 - 2 months. I didn't exactly follow the doctors orders as prescribed and only did the exercise portion. I exercise about 30 - 45 minutes (cardio, with some weights) aboout 4-5 times a weeks. Didn't follow the 100-120 gram carb a day diet that was prescribed. I am still gaining weight and now I have only had one period (extra long) period since the beginning of May, a little over 7 months. I went to see my OB-Gyn and she agreed with the endo that I have PCOS. She told me to go on Met. After reading about some of the side effects on this forum I am very nervous about it limiting my ability to exercise (I am very dedicated to it). I am wondering if anyone with PCOS has had success controlling (losing) large amounts of weight with only a low-carb diet and no meds. If so, I may want to rededicate myself to changing my lifestyle to that of a permanent low-carber. Please let me know. I do not know what to do right now. Thanks everyone!

Welcome to the most awesome forums ever!!!! :)

I went off my met and am only on Yasmin currently. There really was never a huge difference in my PCOS symptoms when I was on the met, but then every woman is different.

I have Celiac disease and actually found some symptoms I blamed on Diabetes and PCOS disappeared when I removed wheat and gluten from my diet. I eat a vegetarian diet, but add in some eggs for breakfast once in a while. I haven't been counting calories, but I don't eat junk food or high carb food much. I just eat slow and make sure I have lots of low calorie fiber. I'll start counting calories some day.

I started out at 310 and after a few times of being stuck at a weight and learning that I had to cut out wheat, I'm back at losing slowly again.

Adding more fruits and veggies and fiber to my diet seemed to really be the key with PCOS. Even though the fruits have carbs, they really help regulate my blood sugar, like when I share an apple with my bf or have a couple pieces of dried fruit and some water as one of my many little snacks during the day.

Break up your meals into many small ones during the day. Make your body think food is in abundance and make sure your exercise routine is a little bit varied. Basically I make sure I eat healthy and trick my body into burning off the fat. When eating fewer meals and skipping meals, my body thought it was in starvation mode and stored every single thing it could. Also, don't drink your calories. No sodas and limit fruit juice to a teeeeeensy glass if you must have it. Eat your fruit, not drink it. It will make you feel fuller and last longer!

I wish you good luck, you will hopefully find what methods work for your body and the weight will come off. It is hard when fighting PCOS, but it can be done. When you need inspiration or are feeling frustrated, come here and check out the before and after pictures and read the posts. So many others are going through the same issues. This is definitely the right place for you to be! Just don't give up!

There is a book by Rob Stevens called The Overfed Head and an intuitive eating thread here that discusses those principles. Your own body can really tell you when and what to eat. How did people get by for years without all the nutrition info of modern times.

PCOS is mentioned in The South Beach Diet. You might want to check that out...

I think I'm in the minority here, as my PCOS didn't seem to be insulin resistance-related (my blood sugar was totally normal and even though i was severely overweight, i didn't have any insulin resistance symptoms). I, however, have completely managed it with weight loss, and I've done that through exercise and a low-calorie diet that isn't low carb. I end up at about 40% of my calories from carbs a day, sometimes closer to 50%, and having that high of a carb level hasn't affected my relief of PCOS symptoms or my weight loss at all. I think, though, that the treatment approach might be really different for someone who had insulin-resistance related PCOS, so I don't know.

With weight loss, though, my PCOS symptoms have completely vanished, so there is hope for treating with just diet and weight loss.