Hey everyone,

Soo ive tried various diets and i cant get the motivated to stick to them. Was due to have a gastric band last november but i cancelled as i thought i could loose weight without it.. Seems i was wrong.

I am 23yrs old, 5ft8 amd i weigh 21st. The heaviest ive EVeR been.. I need to loose weight for confidence reasons but more importantly i have PCOS , and if i ever want children i need to try and put these sypmtoms at bay by loosing weight.


If anyone has any particular diets or motivation i could try i would really appreciate it.

Theres so many diets out there i dont know which one would work best for me, so any tips would be amazing

Many thanks to all xxxxx

Hey! Welcome to 3fc

I'd recommend calorie counting as it's free. Get a cheap food scale and some measuring cups and go from there.

Weight loss isn't a race and instead of trying some fad diet I'd recommend you really change your habits to be healthier. Start off slow.. An extra 10-20 minute walk a day. Whole wheat pasta, bread, less processed food. I'm not sure what you're eating right now so I don't know if your issue is more portion control or food types.

There'll be more people coming along soon to give you good advice I'm sure, haha, this is just my opinion.. and remember, you can do it!

Congratulations on taking the first step!!! I don't know what will work for you, I can only tell you what works for me, and that's calorie counting. It's flexible, I don't have to ever feel deprived, I can spend the calories however I want. Ya I mostly eat healthy foods, but if I want a treat, or a glass of wine, or to go out to dinner, I can and still stay on plan.

It may take some trial and error, just start and adjust as you go.

You can do it!

Hey thanks for your replies so far.... I think my portion size is out of control and major lack of exercise, my friend gave me a diet plan and i added up the calories and it comes to 1200. Dont know if thats too many or too little? What do u guys think? I HATE exercise but i need to get myself moving . Xxx

Joannas, welcome aboard! We have a whole thread for PCOS under the Dieting With Obstacles header. Calorie counting is a great, great tool (works for me, too!) but the PCOS condition may have some food guidelines that would give you more benefit. There are a lot of terrific chicks over there that are making good headway on the same issues you have and will gladly tell you how they're doing it!

Additionally, a very good investment is a digital food scale. It really helps while you get back in touch with what a normal portion is. My thoughts are that you may not need necessarily to focus on bottom-line calories quite yet - getting the RIGHT foods to help recover your insulin sensitivity may be a more important first step.

I'll second the flexibility of calorie counting. Start by finding an online calculator and plugging in your stats to get a calorie range for the day. If you have a smartphone get an app to help you track. Pay attention to portion sizes and log, log, log.

You can get really creative with great foods if you try, the hardest part is getting yourself organized and ready to go!

Thanks so much for the replies so far... Think im going to do calorie counting and stick with 1200 a day.. I have a calorie counter on my phone so il use that.. I have trouble with measuring foods... How manys grams is a sensible portion etc? Xxx

1200 is wayyyy too little for you right now. That would be difficult to maintain too, I eat more than that most of the time. To be honest I'd steer clear of trying to do 1200 calories a day if you usually eat a lot more. It'd send me straight to binge city to cut my calories in half or more over night!

Put all of your details on something like bmi-calculator.com then you can work out your BMR and figure out how many calories you need to eat every day to maintain your current weight. Then you'll be able to work out how many you need to eat to lose weight.

What kind of food do you normally eat? Like what does an average day look like at the minute?

Welcome. And good luck. I don't know what to tell you to help in the motivation department other than your health should be a number one priority. I wish now I had done things to lose weight years ago. You are the only one who can decide to do it. I agree with calorie counting. I had great success with it. And check the "obstacles" forum as was already suggested. You'll find all sorts of support in every forum. I really like the "100 pound club" too. Very friendly people all over the place!

I think you will lose pretty quickly at 1200 calories. If you chose wisely, you will be full and will get nutrients you need. But you could go a bit higher if you want. Get comfortable with some foods and calorie ranges. As long as you stay below what it takes to maintain your weight, you should lose.

Lin

Okayy thanks il look at some online calculators. At minute:

Breakfast: nothing ( if weekdays) at weekends just toast and jam or cereal

Lunch: well i normally have this at 2pm( this will be the first thing i eat all day during the week) i have toast and jam, and snack a jacks and then yoghurt..
Dinner : to be honest , more toast. Im not into cooking much....
Snacks: i do eat alot of chocolate some days too
Drinks: i probably have about 2 glasses of water a day

Xxx

Yikes, honey! That is a terrible diet if PCOS is your problem. Calorie counting with a focus on keeping your insulin response as stable as possible is a much better idea, and it will keep you full longer, too. A low glycemic load diet like South Beach or low carb, like Stillman's or Atkins, will not only help you drop the weight but are not exacerbating to the underlying associated symptoms of PCOS.

Calorie count, go low carb and high fat, moderate protein, and keep your calories around 1600-1800 a day. You'll be satisfied, well nourished, and likely lose 1-2 pounds a week, even if your body is resistant to weight loss. But your current foods are major cravings-inducers and spike your poor insulin like nobody's business. Eat real food, even just some eggs or cheese with that toast, and some nice salads or roasted veggies, and you'll be in much better shape no matter where your calories fall on the spectrum. Calories do matter, but nutrition needs to be your key focus after establishing a basic calorie budget to stick to.

Please do go look at a calculator, I'd starve in 1200 calorie a day!

This journey will be a series of small changes for you. Once you're comfy with the calories, try to balance your food groups a little. Your menu snapshot today has no protein.Do you like eggs? chicken? beef? Your body needs some fuel there, sistah! What about veggies? What do you like that you can enjoy a few servings of a day? Fruits?

Baby steps, but each step in the right direction helps!

I'd go and sign up for myfitnesspal.com (free!). It has thousands of food's calorie counts, and lets you calculate what you should be eating in order to lose weight, and also tracks exercise. Its been a HUGE help for me.

My other suggestion is look for recipes to replace high cal/high fat options. I mean like if you love mac and cheese, find a healthier version. This really helped me to start out. That way I wasn't missing my favorites but I was controlling calories (try laaloosh.com and skinnytaste.com for great options!).

My advice: don't try to do it all at once. Like some have already suggested, tackle one thing (like counting calories) than move on to something else (like balancing your food groups).

You don't have to do everything perfectly immediately, as long as you are moving in the direction of healthier eating you are on your way.

Also, when you do slip up (it happens to all of us) don't think of it as the end of your 'diet' instead think of it as a deviation from your normal healthy habits and get right back on track.

I'd like to second (third? tenth?) the other posters who are suggesting calorie-counting and considering a lower-carb plan. While I don't know anything about how diet affects PCOS I know that, personally, one piece of bread leads to three pieces of chocolate leads to a donut. Once I have something carb-heavy I just can't stop. When I plan my day's meals around protein and healthy fats I find that I'm less hungry, and therefore likelier to stay within a reasonable calorie limit, and have fewer (or no!) cravings for crappy carbs.