I have been trying to lose weight now for the past 5 years, and every time I start losing weight I hit a plateau for *MONTHS*, literally months... I get discouraged and I slowly, but surely turn back to my old habits and I've gained it all back.

In 2004 I went on a weight loss rampage... I wanted to lose weight so desperately because I was engaged, about to be married and I wanted to look good for my boyfriend. Well, I lost 50 lbs in four months. I was shocked that I was able to lose weight so quickly. I was still eating bad things like a slice of pizza, but I would only allow myself to eat once a day. I wouldn't eat breakfast, or lunch, only dinner, and my dinner was always very small.

Well, when I found out my fiance was cheating on me, I was devastated. The moment I found out, I immediately loaded up on ice cream and candy. I needed something that made me feel better. It didn't make me feel better, but it was uncontrollable. I just kept eating the ice cream and candy even though I felt like I wanted to die.

So, within 3 months, I had gained back 20 lbs, and another 3 months went by, and I gained 25 more lbs. I was pretty much back to the way I was before I lost the weight. I didn't even reach my goal weight when I was on my diet rampage.

I have PCOS and when I am eating three meals a day, it seems like I can never lose weight. Some weeks I don't lose anything at all, and when I do lose anything it's only 1/2 - 1 lbs. The only thing that has helped me in the past is starving myself. I know that is unhealthy and people have told me that I shouldn't do that, but I don't know how to lose weight healthy. I am on weight watchers, but nothing seems to help. I went on an exercise rampage a couple years ago, and I was exercising 3 hours a day and low and behold I would only lose 1 lbs a week, and sometimes I wouldn't lose anything. I wasn't losing inches either. I would measure myself as well.

I am here, pleading with those of you who have PCOS, please help me out! I need some advice on how I can lose weight and keep it off without starving myself. I am almost to a breaking point. I so badly want to stop eating.

I'm 24 years old, and I have been overweight since I was 10. It seems like I am constantly thinking about how fat and ugly I am, and how if I just stop eating I could be thin and be happy.

I think you need to go speak to an endocrinologist. They should be able to offer you different hormone...with the right mix, you might be able to lose the weight easier and without starving yourself.

Really, you need to see a doctor and talk to them about what they think would work best. Starving yourself will only cause more harm to your body.

I have been to an endocrinologist about this, and they put me on glucophage for the insulin resistance... Anyway, I was getting very bad headaches from the glucophage and I stopped taking it, so they put me on yasmin.

Glucophage didn't do anything for my appetite, or for weight loss, and yasmin hasn't done anything either.

The doctors pretty much tell me that if glucophage doesn't work, and yasmin doesn't work for weight loss, then I just need to stick to a diet and exercise plan.

I'm still on yasmin just to help me with my menstrual cycle.

I feel very hopeless, and I don't know what to do. Doctors won't help me, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do.

As someone with PCOS, I know your pain on this one. But it's DEFINITELY possible (if a little challenging and frustrating at times).

For me, it was really important to do a couple of things - cutting out refined grains and sugar, for example. Even if they fit into my calorie allowance, I didn't lose weight when I ate them...if I did eat them, I'd basically have to starve myself to lose anything. So how's your diet, whole-foods wise? Is there room to improve that and give a more whole-foods plan a try? The theory here is that insulin resistance associated with PCOS will cause rapid blood sugar spikes and valleys, which can make weight loss harder and cause food cravings.

What ALSO doesn't work for me is trying to do a ton of exercise on few calories. It'll stall me out. But exercising regularly and eating a moderate (1500 calories or so), whole foods plan really did work.

My experience is that ALL weight loss requires a balance...not too many calories, not too few, not too little exercise, not too much, not too many carbohydrates, not too few...but that for people with PCOS, that balance has to be even more precise than in someone with a normal endocrine system. But once you FIND that balance, it really is possible. So you just have to experiment a bit, find the balance that works for you, and stick with it.

It especially hard for people like us with pcos to lose weight but it isn't impossible. I was able to lose a lot of weight but because I was not consistent with my diet and exercise I ended up gaining a lot back. This is why I believe that I can do it if I stick to it.

I've had the issue with glucophage and couldn't stand it. I was on bcps for over 6 years (Diane 35) and it helped with some of the symptoms but not with the weight loss. I've recently switched to Actos which works on blood sugar same as glucophage but is easy on the stomach which was the main issue why I couldn't stick with glucophage.

I've had days when I was so depressed that nothing was working for me and even considered lap-banding but then after talking with my endo, I've decided to keep experimenting with different treatments until one finally works.

I have lost weight before, its not impossible its just slower than other people and I will have to put in double the effort and commitment to get to where I want to be.

Like Manda said, you need to keep experimenting with different foods, different meds and exercises until you find something you can stick to and works for you. And always check back here for information and stay accountable & use other chicks' progress for inspiration! (manda's for example, way to go! )

Good luck!

Thanks guys! I've considered a whole food diet, but it's rather expensive to buy whole foods, and it's very difficult for me to buy organic foods. I don't have an issue with cooking, I love to cook, but it the budget that I'm most concerned about. Right now I am reading a booked called "The Fat Burning Diet" by 'Jay Robb'. You can look it up on amazon, I can't post links yet.

So far what is he saying sounds like it would work, but I have a few food limitations...

I have kidney stones, so I have to stay away from soy products, and I can't eat certain fruits and vegetables. Some of the food he recommends seems hard to follow.

This is one of the biggest issues with me is the PCOS and the kidney stones. I have to be on a low oxalate diet, which means eating mostly just meat and dairy. Even wheat causes kidney stones, especially whole grains. Brown rice also causes kidney stones.

So, this is the hardest thing for me, and I don't really know what to do. I can eat white rice, and potatoes without the skin, but wheat of all kind is pretty bad for the kidney stones.

I am going through the same thing right now.
The only diet that ever worked for me was the South Beach diet. I fell off the wagon for a long time, but restarted 9 weeks ago a low calorie low carb diet, this time with metformin and I have lost 20 pounds. I don't think I ever lost this amount of weight before, and I know it is because of the metformin.
I started with 250 mg once daily, and I have been gradually increasing the dose, I am now taking 500 mg, twice a day, and I am planning to further increase it over a month or two to the full dose of 2000 mg total.
I feel nauseous all the time from the metformin, get headaches, and diarrhea, but I am trying my best to comply. I add lemon juice and a pinch of salt to my drinking water to help with the nausea, and I make sure I drink lot's of water.
OCPs help with regulating periods but not with weight loss.
Metformin helps by sensitizing cells to insulin, so the cells take up sugar and use it instead of storing it as fat.
Good luck with your weight loss.

Wow, you actually deal with the headaches and diarrhea? I had my gallbladder taken out a couple years ago, and since then I have had an issue with diarrhea, well I've heard many many people have diarrhea for the rest of their life from the gallbladder being taken out. I am on a medication that helps stop the diarrhea, and at first it was very effective, but it's not working so well anymore. I'm having a hard time with diarrhea in the mornings, and constipation at night.

Anyway, when I took metformin, I didn't notice a change at all. I didn't lose weight, and it didn't suppress my appetite like most people experience. All it did for me was cause headaches. So, I stopped taking it.

I wish I could find something that would help me lose weight. Exercising myself to death and eating a restricted calorie diet hasn't helped in the past. Right now I am on weight watchers, and I'm getting back on the wagon. I strayed for a bit, but I am trying to get my mojo back. I was doing really well before, and over a period of 8 months, I lost 25 lbs, which is really good for me.

Thanks for the good wishes