Hi everyone

This is me trying to get a fresh perspective on what has been a lifelong struggle with weight loss. I'm 26, have been overweight since I was probably 14.

I try to eat right, sometimes even school people on why what they're eating might be bad for them. I go to the gym, jog, for for zumba classes about 3-5 times a week.

I have PCOS and for a long time didn't care too much about it. But as I'm growing older (nearing 30 yikes!) I feel like my metabolism is slowing down more than ever making it super hard to lose even a pound.

My friends who spot me in the gym almost always look at me and say "wow, looks like you had a good workout". But I don't see results. I've read tons of articles about this and it's getting frustrating.

So here I am, looking for inspiration, motivation and to know what I'm doing wrong and what can be done better, be it food or exercise or just lifestyle.

Also I'm thinking of starting an anonymous blog. what are your thoughts on (a) the blog and (b) the anonymity?

Please share your experiences with me because I know there's so many success storied out there!

What types of food do you eat? I might be able to give you suggestions on how to improve your diet.

What exercises do you do at the gym, and how often?

Hi mjf,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post to help me out. Here's what I've been doing for food:

Start the day
- Wake up and have a glass of warm water with crushed ginger and lemon juice
Breakfast:
- At 7am I have a measured half cup of oats (quaker quick cook) with 1 cup water and salt (I don't like sweet cereal in general) + two boiled egg whites
Snack:
- Around 10am I have a snack, almost always a banana (less ripe/no black spots)
Lunch:
- 12pm my coworkers and I go for lunch. Almost always a salad (spinach + chickpeas + kidney beans + shredded carrots + peas + beets sometimes + boiled split pea + vinaigrette) (used to add honey mustard but then I stopped)
- Some days lunch is a burritto without the wrap and with tofu (I'm vegetarian)
Snack again:
- Around 3 or 4 I have a nature valley honey and oats granola bar (slowly cutting that down) OR I pack a few almonds and walnuts
Dinner
- Dinner is variable and at a variable time. I used to make vermicelli with vegetables or wheat pasta which I've stopped now (because carbs, sigh). -
- lentils in soupy consistency.
- I try to add bell peppers, carrots, peas, beans, onions, tomatoes, brocoli and kale to my dinner
- I make indian flatbread (roti) from scratch (kneading the dough from wheat flour) So thats the carb in my dinner

** I don't eat sugar per se. I don't add sugar to my tea and coffee either
** I don't like milk so the only dairy I was eating was greek yogurt and cottage cheese (paneer) & regular cheese occasionally

Working out:
I try to hit the gym about 4-5 days a week.

- I jog/run about 8-10 miles a week
-> (10 intervals of 45 sec @ 6.8mph + 1.15 min @ 3.5 mph)
-> endurance jogging for 2-2.5 miles @ 5 mph)

- I attend about 1-2 zumba classes every week (1 hour classes)

** I have been skeptical about training with weights because what I've heard is - burn fat first with lots of cardio, then tone muscle with weight training

Do you have any suggestions for me? Any comments would be so helpful

Assuming it's only a small amount of salt, that should be ok.

Is it possible to check the nutrition info for the vinaigrette? Some are healthier than others (for example some have added sugar).

Those granola bars have 11g added sugar per serving, so I'd suggest cutting down on those. Almonds and walnuts are a good choice (assuming it's just pure nuts).

When you say wheat flour, do you mean whole wheat flour?

Are you getting enough protein on the days you don't eat tofu, and enough fat on the days you don't eat nuts? I didn't try to add it up, so might already be getting enough, but you might want to check just in case. Nuts, avocado, and olive oil are good sources of healthy fats.

I recommend doing both cardio and weightlifting. The more muscle you have, the faster you can burn fat (and you'll burn calories faster throughout the day even when you're not exercising). There's no reason why you need to wait until you're thin to start building muscle.

Thanks mfj!

You're right, I think that granola bar is something I can eliminate. Plus it is processed also so makes sense. I've started eating mixed berries instead of that (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry)

Yes I do whole wheat flour also mixed with multigrain flour. All of the nuts are pure not salted or roasted.

What do you think of melons, peaches and kiwis as fruit choices? (because I bought them recently for variety)

Also if I were to start weight training say 3 days a week, is there a routine you suggest? And how many exercises? I think part of me not wanting to venture into weight training is also lack of guidance. I've been following a couple of boards on pinterest for this but I get totally confused on what to do and not to do

Check the ingredients of the multigrain flour to see if it says whole. Not all multigrain is whole grain.

I think all of those are good choices, but I'd recommend buying the peaches organic, if possible (because of pesticides).

There are probably some guides elsewhere on this forum, but I'll try to summarize the most important points. I suggest focusing mostly on compound exercises (exercises that work several different muscles). Some good ones are squat, bench press, bent over row, overhead press, deadlift, and pullup (or lat pulldown). About 3 or 4 different exercises should be enough to cover all the big muscle groups, but you could do more if you want more variety.

You should avoid working the same muscle two days in a row. Some people alternate between upper body and lower body, and some people do a full body workout every time (with a rest day in between).

I suggest doing about 2 or 3 sets of each exercise, about 8-12 reps per set, and about 60-90 seconds rest between sets (I've seen different numbers on different websites so you can experiment to see what works best for you). Lift and lower the weights slowly. If you find it easy to complete the sets, increase the weight slightly the next time you do the exercise (but don't increase too fast).

Getting a trainer to teach you the exercises would be ideal (because they can watch you to see if you're doing it correctly), but otherwise you can watch Youtube videos to learn the exercises.

thanks mjf! I've discovered this class in LA fitness called boot camp conditioning where the instructor teaches some really good exercises. I'm planning to pick a few of them and continue doing them outside of the class. Even if I'm able to see a small difference of 2-3 lbs I'd be so much move motivated than I am right now

I also have PCOS and, unfortunately don't have any words of wisdom because I am also struggling. It can definitely be frustrating when it seems like our effort is all in vain.

A low carb diet or a low glycemic load diet is usually the best nutrition plan for PCOS. Everyone is different, and everyone's body can handle a different amount of carbs. A lot of women with PCOS are now doing the keto diet. I personally find keto too restrictive and have found a sweet spot around 80-100grams of carbs a day. Going gluten free is also recommended if you have PCOS.

Definitely add weights to your workout. The sooner the better! Weight training is awesome for PCOS because putting on muscle not only helps with metabolism but with insulin resistance. HIIT training is also very effective for weight loss with PCOS.

^ ^ THIS ^ ^

I have found for me if I can keep at 100g of carbs per day then I lose consistently. I average about 75-80/day. I too feel that Keto is too restrictive and I can't stick to long term. I have also added weights and I have had bigger losses and I love it.

Hi there! I'm new to this site but anyways. I have PCOS too but I didn't find out that's what my problem was until 5 years ago but I too have been struggling to lose weight that I gained randomly. I did a bunch of research when I was diagnosed and found that a lot of people who have PCOS also have a gluten sensitivity. So I got tested and sure enough I do have that. I'm just barely starting out trying to get rid of gluten from my diet but I have read other people's stories that have lost weight after getting rid of gluten. I hope this helps you!

I can relate. I've been logging everything I eat so that I'm accountable and I can look back at how much nutrition I've been getting. But weight loss is a different altogether

I agree. I've been on a relatively low-carb diet for about 3 weeks (logging what I eat + restricting carbs to 1 meal a day + healthy fats + eating protein + lentils).

You're right about a pure keto diet being too restrictive. For working women, always having that "oh no I can't eat that" at the back of their minds can be really stressful. For me it became an obsession at one point, which would distract me from my work too.

I've started weight training twice a week. I go to a class in my gym so that gives me a good 45 min workout. It's also very motivating.
I'm not sure there's a visible change in me but I definitely feel better. I'm still battling depression but starting to feel a little better as the days go by. I don't feel like turning to food for comfort because I'm more self-aware now I suppose.

Hey kwid2007, thanks for that suggestion. I found out about gluten very recently. Growing up with PCOS, I never really thought it mattered, but now starting to be more aware. On the whole I think eliminating refined carbs has been working so far. All my doctors only told me that I had to lose weight. But for PCOS it's a little more convoluted that calorie deficit. There are so many foods we can and can't eat

Hello! I have pcos as well! Some days it feels manageable for me... Others like I'm being punished for something I did in a past life.
Good job and congrats on making life changes that will be good for you! Keep at it!