[Onsecondthought]

Hi Everyone!

I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS and hypothyroidism and I've been on Metformin and Synthroid for about the last three months. The reason I'm posting is because I'm honestly baffled by my body. This all started for me about 3 years ago. I had lost about 65 pounds and was doing great when all of a sudden I started gaining weight despite the fact that I hadn't changed my eating or exercise habits. I went to my doctor, she ran the tests and everything was fine. Long story short, 6 doctors, 3 years and 60 pounds later, I was finally diagnosed with PCOS and hypothyroidism.

Over the past 3 years, I've eaten healthy and exercised daily but no matter what I did, I kept gaining weight. Now, even with the right meds, I still can't lose the weight. I eat about 1500 calories per day and I exercise 5 days a week for about an hour and a half per day and it doesn't make a difference. My weight is on a merry-go-round...it literally cycles. The first and second week it will seem as if my body is finally acting normal and I'll graudally lose about 2 pounds a week, but then on the first day of the 3rd week my weight jumps right back up to where it was initally (or higher) and I'll start all over again. I know I'm not unconciously gorging on 15000 calories to warrant the gain so I don't know why this is happening. It's so frustrating to know that I'm doing everything humanly possible try and get heathly but my body just isn't cooperating.

I'm completely and utterly confused and I have absolutely no idea what I need to do to lose this weight. Has anyone else experienced this type of behavior or know what might be causing it? This merry-go-round is making me dizzy and I really just want to get off.

[WarMaiden]

What's in those 1500 calories you're eating? Post a typical menu or two.

[Onsecondthought]

This should be interesting...my days are pretty long so I eat like a dozen times...

4:45am: Coffee (and Synthroid)
6:30am: yogurt or 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or oatmeal (this is preworkout and I can't handle anything substantial)
10:00am: Coffee and some sort of protein: sliced turkey or two egg whites or 1/4 cup of plain cottage cheese (I know I should eat more after a workout, but this is about all I can get down right after)
11:30am: Plain oatmeal, sliced almonds, and fruit or cottage cheese, almonds, and fruit
2:00pm: side salad, lean cuisine or healthy choice meal and a side of steamed veggies
4:30pm: fruit or greek yogurt with almonds or popcorn
7:00pm: baked chicken breast with steamed veggies or veggie egg white omlete or soy burger with steamed veggies.
(8:00pm): If I want something sweet, I'll have jello or ff hot chocolate

that's pretty much my standard menu. i change things around here but that's basically it.

[WarMaiden]

Well, you're not eating junk food in those 1500 cals, so that's good. I'd suggest experimenting and seeing what happens, see if you can get something moving. Things to try might be:

-- Raising your calories by 100 or 200 per day.
-- Cutting out coffee, replacing it with green tea.
-- Cutting out grains, replace them with extra veggie servings.
-- Adding more good fats into your diet while taking out grains or fruits.
-- Lowering your calories by 100 or 200 per day.
-- Switching out cardio exercise for weight-training or HIIT.

[Michelle98272]

My gosh.....I saw something like this on TLC the other night...Have you been tested for Cushings?http://www.endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/p...s/cushings.htm

[Onsecondthought]

Thanks for the responses WarMaiden and Michelle!

I was tested for Cushings about 2 years ago, but all the tests came back normal. I'm thinking it might be time for another round of tests because those tests also told me I didn't have hypothyroidism!

As for my diet and exercise, I've done loads of experimenting...increased calories, decreased calories, more carbs, less carbs, no carbs after 6, high protein, more fat, less fat, no artifical sweetners, increased cardio/decreased weights, increased weights/decreased cardio, interval training...the list goes on and on.