I am watching my calories and i posted a thread that included my calorie goals for each day. I am trying to keep it between 1200 and 1300 a day. I have PCOS and IR. Everyone at other groups seem to think this calorie goal is really low for my weight and i agree BUT i cant seem to lose if i raise the calories. Is this all in my head or do those of you with IR/pcos have trouble losing weight at more common recommened calories? I think i am going to try raising my calories and exercise level. I know i need to incorporate more protien and less carbs, that is one thing that i am working on. But what do you all do as far as how many calories you consume? If you dont count calories, if you use WW, do you find that you have to stay well below your points for the day to lose? I used to do ww and lost great on that plan but i did always have to stay several points below their recommended points for my weight.

My doctor recommends 1500 calories for me (I have PCOS, IR & a Thyroid problem...that didn't develop until after I miscarried & I weigh 255). At first it was working, but then I got pregnant & stopped. After I miscarried I gained all that weight back & I have started over again. It's not a quick loss, but it was around 2 to 3 lbs a week.

I am sorry to hear about your miscarriages. I know baby lust well. I had a VERY hard time concieving with my second child...my periods were on an 80 day cycle...not too much ovulating going on.
Anyway. that is good to know about your 1500 cal diet. I would be happy with a steady 2-3 pounds a week. that is what i am getting now on 1200-1300 but i think i am going to bump it up to 1500 and kick up the cardio and weight training.
Thanks for your reply.

I have not been counting calories but have managed to lose well with low carb and exercise. If I back off on the exercise the weight loss slows down considerably!! I have PCOS and IR but from the impression my endocrinologist has given me it is not that bad since i responded well to clomid to conceive and have responded well to metformin with my fasting insulin going from 28 to 8.5 in 16 weeks.

Hope you do well and yes i agree, up the calories a little and exercise! Do you watch carbs?

From what I've read, most women with PCOS and IR don't become overweight from eating too many calories. The problem is that they make too much insulin and insulin stores fat. So everything they take in is stored as fat. Lucky us! Slow, long-term weightloss is much better because you need to retrain (or trick!) your body to use insulin correctly. These articles suggest 250-500 calorie reduction a day with a moderate increase in exercise. This will give you a loss of about a pound a week or less. (I'm averaging about a 1-1.5 pounds a week) Exercise seems to be the key and women with PCOS need twice as much as others to regulate insulin, along with a switch from refined to complex carbs, higher fiber, and smaller meals.

I think it's a great choice about the weight training. That's a major thing I've been lacking!

I uped the cals and the exercise and lost two pounds. I can deal with that, ha ha. Really i am at a place now where i look forward to the exercise because of how much better it makes me feel. I dont know if i get an energy boost because i have IR or if regular people get an energy boost after exercising. Man oh man, my energy has been through the roof since i increased calories and started exercising. Now if i could just lower carbs and raise protien. That is my goal for next week. I am just SUCH a bread lover. but I also know nothing tastes as good as slim feels.

Isn't it amazing how are bodies work? glad that changing things up a bit helped you get moving again!

What I am finding is that I can't expect the same thing to work forever, so I am regularly adjusting my calories/exercise when my weight loss stops (and sometimes that has meant 1200 calories for a few weeks, although I generally try to move between 1200 and 1400 in a non-regular pattern).

I guess the thing is, everyone really is an individual and to be truly succesful at permanent weight loss we need to try different suggestions and work out what works for us.

1200-1300 calories is probably low for you, maybe try increasing your exercise time or intensity to compensate...it is a bit weird but you might find if you get the right level of exercise you can eat a lot more but still loose weight.

I'm on WW on have PCOS. I weigh 239 but stay in the point range for 200-224 more so if I happen to mess up I'm not going over. I do have a hard time losing after being on a diet for more then a few weeks. I find that if i just keep at it and try cutting out sugar more the weight will start to come off again.

This is very true. If you stop losing try something different.

Wanted to add- Although we have to find what works to keep losing ...Gaining is always very easy. I can gain back all the weight in a freakin week