PCOS & Weight Watchers

  • DID IT WORK FOR YOU? DID YOU HAVE TO DO IT A LITTLE DIFFERENT & CUT OUT SOME THINGS? WHEN I WAS ON WW BEFORE I WOULD CUT CERTAIN CARBS OUT AND THAT WOULD NOT LET ME REACH MY FOOD GOAL A DAY, BUT I LOST AND WAS FULL AND HAPPY, BUT I DID GET CHEWED OUT FOR NOT EATTING ALL MY POINTS. DO YOU THINK IT REALLY MATTERS IF YOU HAVE PCOS AND CAN'T EAT ALL YOUR WW POINTS? I DID WONDERFUL ON IT, NOW TO JUST DO IT AGAIN. SO IF YOU HAVE PCOS IS/DID WW WORK FOR YOU? I'D LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
  • When you are trying to lose weight it is just as important to eat enough food as it is to not eat too much. You want to force your body to burn fat for some of the energy it needs, but if the incoming food is cut too drastically (or energy expendature increases drastically), then your body can start to panic and lower your metabolism in order to PRESERVE energy (i.e., fat). It will even burn muscle in place of fat because it considers fat more important to your survival than muscle. So, that's why you got "chewed out" for not reaching your points total.

    I have PCOS and I have NOT been instructed to follow a low-carb diet. In fact, the latest research shows that it's not necessarily more effective. I have lost 155 pounds in 3 years or so following Jenny Craig, which is a fairly high-carb plan.

    So, I would say that if WW is a good fit for you, then rejoin and eat as instructed. They do have a new food plan option called the Core plan that is lower-carb that you could do if you insist on reducing carbohydrate intake.
  • You can also eat 'good carbs'. I don't know how strict you are on your food choices, but whole grain bread, sweet potatoes and dried beans are generally point friendly and they are lower on the glycemic index.
  • I'm going to second funniegrrls post on this one The latest research has shown that it's the weight loss itself that helps the PCOS symptoms, and not the type of foods you eat to lose it.

    Some of you may be familiar with the large study Penn State has been conducting on PCOS. Some of the results were published earlier this year. This is from an article in the Washington Post in April of this year:

    Quote:
    Both high-protein, low-carb and high-carb, lower-protein diets have been
    tested in overweight women with PCOS; a recent study by researchers at
    Penn State tied both diets to weight loss as well as improved menstrual
    regularity, lipid profiles and insulin resistance in obese women with PCOS.

    Physical activity may be even more important than dietary changes, Nestler
    says, citing research findings that regular exercise can improve the body's
    ability to regulate insulin. For this reason, physicians generally recommend
    that their PCOS patients exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, five times
    a week, which also may facilitate weight loss.