One of the most recommended treatments for PCOS is to lose weight. But very minimal advice on how to lose weight with PCOS is given. The suggestions I received were medication and the ketogenic diet. These options do not improve the condition, they just might help cover up the symptoms. I don’t know about you, but I know very few people willing to give up carbohydrates for the rest of their life. So the dietary aspect is not sustainable long term. My body also did not respond well to Metformin or going back on birth control.
Hi, my name is Paige and I am an Online Fitness and Nutrition Coach. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) October 2020. After about six months of relying on doctors to help me manage my condition (which led to it getting worse); I decided to take matters into my own hands. I took the research I had done on PCOS, my pre-existing knowledge on fitness and nutrition and applied it to my own programming. This led to 60 lbs of sustainable weight loss in 6 months which substantially improved my condition. I have since used this experience to help my clients accomplish similar results and now I can share it with you! Even if you do not have PCOS or a similar condition, this information can be helpful for anyone looking to lose weight.
I Eat Healthy, I Exercise, Why am I Not Seeing Any Progress?
I know I am not the only one who has felt this frustration. When doctors say “have you tried diet and exercise?” Well, it’s my job, so maybe something else is the problem. Something else was the problem. It was how I was approaching my diet and exercise.
I had gotten complacent in my workouts, the intensity was not where it could have been, cardio was a rare occurrence and sure I made “healthy choices” in my diet, but there was no consistency or structure to how I was eating. Binge eating has been something I have struggled with for years and I had no awareness of this. This was also going on through my first year of university with a full time job, so stress levels were high and meal times were all over the place.
So how do we fix this?
During a heart to heart with the other half, we set a deadline of six months. When I work with clients I try to find a deadline for them so that the “I’ll start tomorrow” mindset doesn’t get in the way. Goal setting is a whole other article; but make sure your goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound. Write it down and track your progress, having someone else involved can be helpful in keeping you on track.
Set a realistic goal and deadline
Have some way of being held accountable
Nutrition
Weight loss occurs when the calories we consume are less than the calories we burn in a day. But this does not mean eating nothing to get quick results. I started at my maintenance calories because I was increasing my calories out by adding in cardio. From there I did decrease my calories every month or two. But this happened less often than increasing my cardio. Overall, I only got down to a 400 calorie deficit.
You’ll notice a theme of slowly lowering the calories consumed and slowly increasing the amount of calories burnt and that is what made it sustainable. When your body adapts to a certain amount of energy coming in and a certain amount of energy going out, it can get more efficient at using the energy you consume. I do not believe in “survival mode” making you hold onto weight when you don’t eat enough. But I can get behind the idea that your body can get efficient at using the calories you consume when they are consumed consistently, leading to less storage of calories as fat.
With PCOS you need to be consuming enough calories and fat to maintain and improve your hormone function. Nowadays the trend is that carbs are bad and fats are okay, but I was raised on low fat dairy products and skim milk. So it is worth pointing out that fats are beneficial. This is a whole other article as well, but unsaturated fats should be prioritized over saturated.
Carbohydrates have been demonized more recently and especially with conditions such as PCOS that can be accompanied by insulin resistance. I am not suggesting you sit down with a bag of sugar and eat it by the spoonful, but carbs are the main fuel source in your body. Your brain alone requires 130 grams per day. For everyone, but especially when working to improve your insulin sensitivity, the source of your carbohydrates is important. I will go into this further in a separate article but choose to get your carbohydrates from foods like vegetables, fruit, cereals, whole grains, and legumes. This will keep you full longer and cause less of a glucose spike.
Protein does not need me to defend it, but make sure you are getting enough in. Protein has a greater thermogenic effect, which basically means it uses more energy to break it down than carbs and fats. It is also great for keeping you full longer and for the growth and maintenance of muscle tissue. No, you are not going to become a she hulk from increasing the amount of muscle on your body. But you are going to increase the amount of calories your body uses in a day, which is beneficial for weight loss as well.
Cardio
Back to the need to consume less calories than we burn in a day to lose weight. Doing cardio as close to daily as possible is going to increase the amount of calories your body burns in a day. This is better than doing all of your cardio in one day because similar to consuming the same amount of calories each day, your body can adapt to the workload you are requiring from it.
I used progressive incline walks. It has a low enough impact on the joints that I could do it every day and I was able to read my textbooks while doing it. Now, I am well aware most people do not have the ability to go to the gym to walk on the treadmill each day. So I will explain what I did in my optimal conditions and then get into a more realistic approach.
I had the luxury of working in a gym and being in school so I always had reading to get done on the treadmill. By the end of the 6 months I was wearing a 45 lb vest, walking for an hour at a 15% incline. Each week I had increased the incline or the time from a starting point of about 8% and 15 minutes. Also keep in mind that I was working as a personal trainer at this point, I was not new to the gym.
Now, normal people have responsibilities and things that prevent them from spending almost 2 hours in the gym. For those people, I suggest starting with 5-10 minutes. Go for a walk at a speed you would walk through the mall at (if you are one to power walk the mall to get around all the people). Increase the incline so that the speed you are walking at feels like a 7 or 8 out of 10 intensity. You want to be able to hold a conversation, but the other person could tell that you are working out. Do this at the end of every workout. On days you can’t make it to the gym, try to get in some extra steps throughout your day, go for a walk outside, take the stairs, park further away. It’s not perfect but it’s something.
I have since worked with some coaches who specialize in body building and they gave me a calorie goal. That would also be a great option. That way you have more flexibility in how you burn those extra calories.
No matter the method you choose for this, you want to maintain it for a week to a month and then increase the intensity. Whether that is the incline, the speed, the time, the amount of calories. Basically when it starts to feel easy, then you increase it, but make sure you maintain it for a week minimum first.
I favoured increasing my cardio over decreasing the amount of calories I was eating because I was working full time and in school. The cardio was benefiting my school and too much of a deficit could have a negative impact on it. You may be in a different situation where you may benefit more from more focus on decreasing the calories you’re consuming. Just be cautious of how low you go.
Workouts -Less exercises at a higher intensity
My workouts didn’t change too much from what I was previously doing, I just removed a couple exercises and focused on increasing the intensity of each exercise. I was a big fan of X sets of Y, but now I was shooting for a range. So instead of stopping at 12 to not ruin my next set, I was doing as many as I could for 4-5 sets. If I could do more than 20 reps, I would increase the weight. If it was less than 8, I would lower the weight, unless it was the fourth/fifth set.
For people who are newer to the gym, I would focus more on making sure each set challenges you rather than focusing on how close you can get to failure. But getting away from set amounts of reps is going to help.
Conclusion
I am not a doctor and I understand that this is not going to work for everyone. My experience has led to improvements in my own health as well as my clients, it could help you do the same. I hope you found this article helpful and found at least one thing you can implement to improve your own health!
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